WHAT IS THE INTERNET?
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The Internet is the world's largest computer network that evolved from a
Federal research program. It is a large community of people all over the
world using computers to interact with one another. It is a way to get
information on a wide range of topics including government, academic
research, and corporations. Finally, it is a way to keep in touch with
friends, associates, and organizations that aren't on America Online, but
still have access to internet.

On AOL, you are already a part of the Internet. And you don't need to sign up
or pay any extra fees for Internet on America Online -- everything costs the
same as the rest of AOL.

A Little History

The Internet started as a research project by the Defense Department.
Cold-War-inspired scientists developed a technology known as packet switching
that could get data from point A to point B even in the middle of a
thermo-nuclear war. In true techno-military style, the technology was given a
complicated acronym name: "TCP/IP," pronounced Tee, Cee, Pee, I, Pee.

The research from the late 1970s was developed enough by the early 1980s to
deploy operational networks for use by researchers. Around the same time,
NASA and the National Science Foundation (NSF) started developing their own
packet-switched networks. NSF encouraged growth of faster and more ubiquitous
communications between its supercomputer centers so scientists around the
nation and the world could make use of expensive supercomputing resources.

Around 1988 and 1989, the number of computers connected to the internet grew
dramatically. In 1981 there were only about 200 host computers on Internet.
By 1991, there were more than 300,000 and the most recent estimate in the
summer of 1994 puts the estimate at 3.2 million host computers!

Internet became a hot topic over the last few years. A combination of
technological advances in software, hardware, and communications made
internet connections suddenly very economical in the late 1980s and early
1990s. The Federal Government contributed to the growth by accelerating its
support for internet connections among universities. Curiosity and intrigue
about Internet built on media attention brought to the topic prompted by
media mega-mergers and Vice President Gore's promotion of a "National
Information Infrastructure."

How big is the Internet?

No one really knows how big the internet is; estimates vary wildly from just
a few million to over 50 million!  Regardless of how you count it, though,
one thing is for sure: the Internet is growing at a dizzying pace with its
most recent annual grow estimated at 84 percent!