When we started with the design of the World Wide Web, WWW for short, better known today as “the Internet” in 1995, we first had to “sell” “the net” as such (“This is going to be a really big thing, even if you can’t imagine it yet…”). That’s why we tried to explain the net and it was like this:

Originally as a military data network, today’s Internet was already developed in the 60’s. Later it was used by science and universities for the worldwide exchange of information and was reserved for only a few computer geeks besides this group. It wasn’t until decades later that it came to its current popularity.

Since 1993, the Internet has been in a state of unstoppable growth. It developed from an elitist data network to a medium for the people. Numerous advantages and undreamt-of new possibilities are available to anyone who makes the Net accessible. More and more people are experiencing this fact. Over 40 million to date.
The growth rate is doubling every year!

The reason for the sudden popularity is the World Wide Web, WWW for short. In this way, the network, which is complicated in itself, is presented in a user-friendly multimedia interface that can be understood by everyone. In addition to pure information, the WWW offers the possibility of integrating images, sounds, speech and video. Even the navigation through 3-dimensional spaces becomes possible. When you say Internet, you mean World Wide Web.

The cost savings for both internal and external communication are immense. Sending an electronic letter (eMail) costs less than a phone call and reaches its recipient seconds later – to any point on earth. A comparison with conventional letter post is out of the question from the outset. Large-scale mailings can thus be realized at a fraction of the previous costs. Any files included!

Every day, the amount of information that represented the entire knowledge of mankind at the beginning of our century is transmitted via the net. You can make this knowledge available to yourself and your company at any time. No question is too special, no library too far. American universities are investing in computers with Internet access instead of an expensive collection of books.

With the help of multimedia and interactive content you are able to present your company in a way never seen before. The Internet presence means customer service, information and even tolerated advertising space – with balanced information content. Due to the interactivity you can directly respond to your customers and design your offer according to their wishes.

Audio and video on demand. Without exception, any digitized information can be sent through the network. Video conferences can be held at local rates using the Internet and a digital camera, and intercontinental phone calls can be made at local rates!

With the help of the net you make yourself independent of places. The company’s own network can be accessed by any of your employees from anywhere in the world with the help of the Internet.
Through this so-called “intranet” technology, you do not only give new skills to sales representatives.

with the net the whole world becomes a potential customer. No matter how big or where your business is. Offer your services 24 hours a day – worldwide. Orders are automatically routed to your PC and after the payment agreement is delivered!

Technical innovation determines the everyday life of the network. Due to the meanwhile acknowledged social and economic importance of the net, everyone is working feverishly on its further development.
In a few years, extended transmission paths will make previously utopian solutions feasible.

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The origins of the Internet go back to the Cold War era. After the launch of “Sputnik” (1957), the American Department of Defense had created an organization called “ARPA”. ARPA was commissioned by the Ministry of Defence to examine the military usability of computer networks and to promote them if necessary. This order initiated, without anyone suspecting it at the time, the birth of today’s Internet.

The objective during development was to create a network with the highest possible stability. Today’s Internet is a direct descendant of this network. Its construction is based on the idea of being able to survive nuclear attacks. The resulting robustness is part of the secret of its success.
The Internet is decentralized and self-organizing. There is no central administration or supreme authority. No one owns the internet. This is the basis of its strength: no institution, state or authority has the power to shut it down or control it in its entirety.

“In the long run, the aspect of fostering interpersonal communication may become even more important than technical goals.”

This sentence by Andrew S. Tanenbaum is currently in the process of becoming reality through the Internet. From a technical point of view, it is quite obvious that a computer network has several advantages over a stand-alone island computer. However, the fact that a global network now has something to offer for every area of interest is not yet known everywhere.

The only requirement for participating in it is to have any interest in anything at all.
Only people who have lost this ability should be advised not to use the Internet.

The WWW principle is based on the linking of computers and their databases through so-called links, also called hyperlinks. The word “link” simply means “connection”. “Connected” are computers and their data. The respective connection is established by Internet commands that the user executes by simply clicking on text or image icons. Normally, the user does not “see” the possibly complicated command behind it.
The programming language of the WWW is called HTML (HyperText Markup Language). A hypertext is more than a normal text – it contains words or images that automatically trigger actions when clicked. It turns a simple text into an interconnected, non-linear entity
WWW information is organized into “pages”, usually referred to by the original English term pages or sites. The pages can correspond to one screen page each, but can also be much longer.
This is determined by the programmer of such a page through his HTML program.

The operation of a WWW interface such as Netscape or Mosaic should be reasonably self-explanatory for a user who is familiar with icons.
There are several user programs (clients) for dealing with the WWW. If that rather scares you at this point, you should read on. Because the most modern and advanced program called Net-scape has become a de facto standard. If at all possible, you should use this program. For graphical interfaces, such as Windows, Netscape is usually activated by clicking on the appropriate icon. The operation is the same under every operating system! Netscape is basically a commercial product, but for a large group of people the license is free or very cheap. The program is freely available via FTP. Free of charge is the use for educational institutions, for non-profit organizations and for private persons. For commercial it costs license fee.
The same operation of the Internet for every operating system: Netscape and WWW make it possible!

This content was created in 1995 by Sven for the x3network image folder. More internet and our work from this time can be found in our web archives (from 1995 and until 2005) .

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