Backstage Pass to Internet
course developed by: Alan Damon

Backstage at Internet - A behind-the-scenes look at how it all works

The first step in making a web page is to understand how Internet works.  This is the boring theoretical part.  If you can pass the Pre-quiz with success, you can jump on to Chapter 2, know-it-all.  If you can not answer some of the questions on this quiz , read Chapter 1 to become a know-it-all. 

Take the Pre-quiz

And now for the juicy bits.  Here's everything you'll need to know about Internet but were afraid to ask:

The simple stuff - it's show time!

Before we go backstage, we must understand what is happening on stage.  When you want to look at a web page on Internet, you need 4 things:   

1. a computer (which works).	In our backstage analogy, the computer is the theater.
2. a browser, which is not someone who spends hours in a store without spending a cent but rather a computer program which allows you to open a web page and look at its contents.  Microsoft Internet Explorer is the most popular one with Netscape close behind.  There are about 60 which exist. An important thing to remember here is that not all web pages can be seen with all browsers.  Some gizmos and gadgets on web pages can make them inaccessible in certain cases.	The browser is the stage where the show takes place.
3. an access provider, which is a company that gives you Internet access such as America Online (AOL), CompuServe, Wanadoo, Club Internet, etc.  Usually people pay a monthly fee anywhere from 35FF to 400FF depending on the services offered but new companies are surfacing offering "free" access to Internet. As my father always used to tell me, "There is no free lunch."  The telephone fees for calling your access provider are comparable to if not less than a local call (between 10 and 20FF per hour).	The access provider is the ticket agent whom you have to pay to see the show.
4. a modem, which is a little machine that converts the 1's and 0's of computer information into those annoying hisses and buzzes.  Remember: the faster the modem, the better.  A 28K modem means 28,000 little ones and zeroes can be transferred per second.  Through the wonderful logic of mathematics, a 56K modem can send twice as much information in a second.  Wow!	The modem is a bit like having a translator sit next to you during a show which is in a language you don't speak.  Some translators are quicker than others.