The Internet opens the door to an inexhaustible world of communication. It is not for nothing that it is often called an information superhighway. The Internet – or web – is proving to be the ultimate medium in the age of telecommunications and computer science. Securiton AG has had a website on the Internet since May 1996.
Five years ago, the Internet was considered as a source of information for universities and a playground for freaks. However, the picture has changed. Today, the Internet is a universal medium. For companies, it is almost obligatory to indicate the address of the company website in letters and advertising. The Internet is also home to websites of millions of private users from all over the world.
What is the Internet?
Imagine a room with many spiders, each of which weaves its own web. These webs are interwoven in such a way that the spiders can move freely anywhere within this labyrinth. In a simplified way, this is what the Internet does – it is nothing more than a global web of countless computers and computer networks. Just as you can talk to someone on the other end of the world who also owns a phone, you can exchange data and information from your computer with other computer users anywhere in the world via the Internet. Today, more than 10,000,000 computers and around 30,000,000 users worldwide are connected to the Internet. These figures are estimated to double each year.
The Internet began as an experiment by the U.S. Department of Defense in the 1960s. The aim was to enable scientists and researchers from far-apart areas to collaborate efficiently by jointly using rare and expensive computers and the associated files. Networks had to be created for this purpose, which were upgraded to high-security networks during the Cold War. The Internet is now over 20 years old and is very popular, mainly due to the use of browsers – software programs that greatly simplify the journey of the user to different Internet addresses.
The most common Internet services include:
WWW: The Internet owes its popularity mainly to the World Wide Web. Thanks to this service and the corresponding software, you can browse through the many websites on the Internet and search for the desired information.
E-mail: A system for sending and receiving mail electronically across the web. E-mail accounts form a large part of Internet traffic and are used by many as the only Internet service.
Usenet: This service provides access to newsgroups or discussion forums where all conceivable topics are discussed.
FTP: File Transfer Protocol allows a user to copy files from any FTP server to the hard drive of their own computer.
Surfing the web
Web users can easily and quickly call up information and colourful graphics stored on computers in many different countries with the help of a browser. You can travel virtually to the USA and visit the White House or NASA, or read the most important articles from the NZZ or BZ. The ability to move quickly from one site to another is generally referred to as “surfing the web”. Companies and many organisations see the WWW as a new opportunity to advertise their products and services, or to provide specific information. To do this, they create a website – a kind of electronic shop window. Once the address of an organisation’s website is known, potential customers can use a browser to obtain information or, if desired, even purchase the goods on offer.
Chatting online
Another Internet service is Internet Relay Chat, or IRC for short. Chats allow several people to send messages or chat under nicknames. The whole thing is similar to meeting up in person, with the difference that you don’t see or hear the other person, but instead type your message into the computer via the keyboard. There are countless such chat servers all over the world, on which there are dozens of chat rooms – virtual spaces where different topics are discussed, just like in the newsgroups. In the IRC, everything takes place in real time. In other words, the other participants see what is being written, whereas the news in the newsgroups can still be read hours or days later.
In recent times, the normal IRC is increasingly being replaced by chat systems where you can not only choose a nickname, but can also create a virtual avatar. This can also be a picture that the other participants will see. But watch out! Everyone can create their own figure in the chat system at their own discretion and enter a name, appearance and age. But it’s questionable as to whether the 18-year-old Han Solo or the 21-year-old Minnie Mouse in the same chat room are really who they say they are. Everyone here is as old as they feel or want to be. Han Solo may even be your neighbour!
Internet telephony
Even making calls via the Internet is now possible, provided both callers have the necessary equipment and an Internet connection. With the appropriate software, state-of-the-art full-duplex telephony is possible all over the world.
However, this is not yet entirely without its problems. As digital telephony generates large amounts of data, a good Internet connection to the recipient is a must in addition to a fast modem. While Internet telephony is hardly a problem within Switzerland or European and African countries, the sound quality in overseas traffic is rarely acceptable. If at all, early in the morning or at night are your best bet.
Dangers
Wherever there are people, there are also those who are out to cause harm to others. This is no different on the Internet. Caution is advised when downloading WinWord documents from other computers on the Internet. Such documents often contain so-called macroviruses, which are activated when the documents are opened. These can then crash your PC. This activity has become a favourite sport of hobby hackers in recent times. You should also beware of so-called e-mail bombs. Unfortunately, it’s hard to protect yourself against such attacks. One of the safest methods is not to open messages from unknown users.
What you can find on the Internet
As already mentioned, the Internet is now used by many companies and organisations for exchanging information and advertising purposes. This is not only because it is cheaper than advertising in the print media, but also because it makes it possible to reach an audience from all over the world. On the Internet, there are no boundaries and distances no longer play a role.
Some examples of companies or industries that can be found on the Internet are as follows: TV stations such as SF DRS, PRO7, SAT1, RTL and RTL2 have websites where you can not only see the TV guide, but also find background information about the individual programmes. Many newspapers such as NZZ and BZ and magazines like Focus and Der Spiegel now also offer their articles on the Internet. Most software companies offer information about their latest products.
News and current affairs
News can be seen on the Internet much quicker than on the radio or in the newspaper. The Reuters agency, for example – from which many newspapers obtain information about the latest news – maintains a website on which the latest news can be read at any time.