Lesson 2 – The Internet, the Web, and Electronic Commerce

Lecture/Discussion Fill up the vocabulary matrix

AGENDA – DIGITAL COMPUTER 1AOCT. 3, 2011 – MONDAY

THE INTERNET

The Internet, short for interconnection of computer networks, is a large network that connects smaller networks all over the globe. The internet was launched in 1969 when the United States funded a project that developed a national computer network called Advanced Research Project Agency Network (ARPANET). It was originally an experiment in how the US military could maintain communications in case of a possible nuclear strike.

THE WEB

The Web, short for World Wide Web, is a way of accessing information over the medium of the internet. The web was introduced in 1991 at the Center for European Nuclear Research (CERN) in Switzerland.

USES OF THE INTERNET AND WEB

1. Communication – e-mails, instant messaging , social networking, blogs, microblogs, and wikis

2. Electronic commerce – online banking, online shopping, online trading, web auction, digital cash

3. Searching for information – search engines, metasearch engines, specialized search engines

4. Education or e-learning – online learning5. Entertainment – music, movies, videos,

etc.

ACCESS TO THE INTERNET

Once you are on the Internet, your computer becomes an extension of what seems like a giant computer – a computer that branches all over the world.

PROVIDERS

The most common way to access the Internet is through an Internet service provider (ISP). The providers are already connected to the Internet and provide a path or connection for individuals to access the Internet.• National service providers – Comcast, Qwest, Verizon• Wireless service providers – computers use wireless modems

BROWSERS

Browsers are programs that provide access to Web resources. This software connects you to remote computers, open and transfer files, displays text and images, and provides in one tool an uncomplicated interface to the Internet and Web documents. Four well-known browsers are Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Microsoft Internet Explorer, and Google Chrome.

For browsers to connect to resources, the location or address of the resources must be specified. These addresses are called uniform resource locators (URLs). All URLs have at least two parts: the protocol and the domain name. The protocols are rules for exchanging data between computers. The most widely used protocol is the http. The domain name indicates the specific address where the resource is located.

Example:

http://www.mtv.com

protocol domain name

top-level domain

TOP-LEVEL DOMAINS

Domain Organization

.com Commercial

.edu Educational

.gov Government

.org Non-profit organization

.mil US military

.net Network