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The Internet on a Budget

What is the Internet

The Internet is a collection of computers around the globe all connected together in a vast network with the ability to exchange information. This network was originally created to allow government computers to exchange vital information even after a nuclear attack disrupted most normal communications. It then expanded to the world wide academic fraternity of universities and research institutes and finally to the rest of the world. Connecting your computer to this network allows you to tap (and contribute) to this stream of information.

Each computer on the Internet has an address -- just like your mailing address -- that identifies it to all other computers on the 'Net. This address is its "URL" (Uniform Resource Locator) -- it identifies both the computer and the protocol (type of connection) used with it. An example would be "http://www.company.com" -- this identifies a computer called "www" at "company" in the "com" (COMmercial) domain (the top-level or "country" part of the address) and using the "http" (HyperText Transfer Protocol -- the World Wide Web) protocol.

Some other protocols would be: "ftp" for File Transfer Protocol; "gopher" for an older way of getting (mostly) text based information; and "news" for Usenet Newsgroups (like a bulletin board.) There are others that you can find out about once you're on-line. "E-Mail" (Electronic Mail) is the Internet service most people are going to use most often. It's basically the Internet equivalent of regular mail (or "snail" mail, as it's frequently referred to on the net) from the post office. Another service called "IRC", for Internet Relay Chat, is a live version of Usenet, like talking on a party-line telephone.

Getting a Computer for the Internet

Most new computers today come with the tools you need to connect to the Internet already installed. If you don't have a computer yet, or have an older model, the system requirements will vary depending upon the computer platform (DOS, Windows 3.1, etc.):

DOS

Windows 3.1

There are many ways to buy a computer today. If you're on a budget here are some of the best:

Local Dealer

This is your best bet if you are a newcomer and you can find a dealer who actually will take the time to talk with you about your needs. Ask the dealer if he has any trade-in's or used computers that fit you specifications. Ask also if he offers a money-back-if-not-satisfied guarantee and has classes in the areas of computing you are interested in. You should be able to get a used 486 with monitor for under $500 and a new Pentium for about $800 (less monitor.) Try to stay away from the big discount stores with household appliances and electronics all under one roof. You'll seldom find knowledgeable salespeople and they have an interest in selling you "what's in stock."

Mail-Order

There are two vendors that have consistently rated at, or near the top, both with Consumer's Reports and the computer magazines -- Dell Computer and Micron Electronics . They will custom-configure a system for you and offer optional on-site service and extended warranties along with a money-back policy and leasing options. You'll pay a little more here ($1200-1500) but you'll get a good product and reliable technical support. They also have "factory stores" that offer reconditioned or discontinued models at a good discount.

Computer Show

This is a choice if you have a knowledgeable friend, or know enough about computers yourself, to allow you to make intelligent choices about the items offered. You'll need to make a list of exactly what you want before hand. You usually wont get a return policy if you make a mistake and purchase the wrong item. You can usually exchange defective items as long as you can either get to the dealer's store or the next computer show he attends.

Classified Ad

This is generally the worst way to buy a computer as most items for sale this way are not going to have any return policy and you won't know if there's a defect until you've had it a while. Most sellers have an inflated idea of the worth of their computers and price them way too high. You shouldn't pay over $350 for a 486 (add $100 for a working SVGA monitor and nothing for a plain VGA one) and be wary of any 386 computers from Packard Bell, IBM, Aptiva, Gateway 2000, Compaq, NEC, AST, and some other manufacturers as they are often proprietary and not easily upgradeable. All "slim-line" desktop systems also contain proprietary motherboards so stay away from these too unless you never plan on upgrading.

Connecting Your Computer to the Internet

First you need to get a local "ISP" (Internet Services Provider). The ISP will either give you a disk (or CD-ROM) that will configure the computer and install the basic tools needed to get on the 'Net or give you the information needed to get and install those tools. You'll need three things: a "TCP/IP stack" (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol -- the basic driver that "speaks" to the Internet); an "API" (Application Programming Interface -- the connection between the driver and the applications); and the Internet applications themselves. Of course you will also need a "modem" (MOdulator-DEModulator -- it transmits digital information over the 'phone lines) and a telephone connection to physically connect to the 'Net.

Each computer platform (Windows 3.1, Macintosh, Linux, etc.) needs a different set of these tools so I won't go into any detail here, you'll find the information needed for each platform from your local user group or computer guru. Installation and configuration is also different for each platform so follow the instructions given you by your ISP

Some of the applications you'll need will be a "dialer" (a way to dial and connect the modem with the ISP's computer -- usually supplied by the ISP) and a "browser" that allows you to "surf" the World Wide Web and which usually contains an "e-mail" application and a "news reader" application in addition to "ftp" for transferring files.

Surfing the Internet

The World Wide Web

The World Wide Web is one of the most popular ways of getting information on-line because of it's "multimedia" (text, images, sound and animation) aspects. Since the Web's graphic interface was developed in 1993 the Web has become everyone's idea of what the "Information Superhighway" is.

One fundamental concept of the Web is hyper links.

The ability to jump to another page of information by clicking on a "link" keyword is what hyper links are about. Links on this page will be a different color than the rest of the text and should be underlined. There are now tens of thousands of web sites on-line with millions of pages of information world-wide.

The "browser" is your doorway to the Web.

What your browser looks like, the features it has, and how you use it depends on your computer's operating system and the browser you use. All browsers allow you to navigate the Web by either pointing and clicking with your mouse on hyper links or using the keyboard to navigate. There are text-only browsers that allow almost any platform to use the Web, although they'll miss the multimedia parts of the Web. Most people will use a graphical browser to gain the full effect of the Web.

With so much information on the Web, finding what you want could be a problem. Fortunately, most browsers come setup with a "Start Page" and a "Search Page" just a click away to help you get there. These pages give you an idea of what's out there and allows you to search for the information you want in most of the popular search engines. Even so, there is no ultimate search tool for the Web, though Yahoo (http://www.yahoo.com) comes close and you'll eventually learn which engine gets the kind and type of information you want by using them all.

Most browsers have a "bookmark" feature that allows you to place URLs of pages you've found interesting in a structured set of folders and links just a click away -- your personal index of Web sites. You can also create a custom start page with the information you most frequently need either on your browsers home page or on one of the search engines home page.

If the Web wasn't enough for you there are also personal communications tools to get you in touch with everyone else on the Internet such as E-Mail, IRC, and News.

The Power of E-Mail, Conferencing & Support Groups

There are three major ways of communicating with other people on the Internet, E-Mail, NEWS, and IRC. E-Mail is universally the Internet service most people are most familiar with. It's basically the Internet equivalent of regular "snail" mail from the post office. Most modern browsers include an e-mail client and make it relatively easy to use e-mail from them. To find someone's e-mail address look them up on the Web using one of the popular white pages directory services like Four11 (http://www.four11.com)

Usenet Newsgroups (also called "NEWS") are places in Cyberspace where you can join in thousands of bulletin board type discussions on any topic imaginable. Any Server on the Internet can host a Newsgroup There is no central Usenet authority. Each news server can decide which newsgroups it will carry and which, if any, it will host. No topic is off limits here and you may want to limit your child's access to newsgroups though one of the blocking services.

With the advent of modern browsers for the Web, you no longer need a separate application to "read" newsgroup articles -- it's built-in already. The trick is in finding the newsgroups that interest you. Ask your ISP about the list of newsgroups it carries and remember that no one carries them all. Understanding the "code" of newsgroups titles is important to finding what you want so you might want to join news:news.announce.newusers and news:news.newusers.questions first and then read the "FAQs" (Frequently Asked Questions) in news:news.answers to learn more about newsgroups.

Another service, "IRC" (Internet Relay Chat) is a live version of Usenet, like talking on a party-line telephone. There are a number of "channels" that come and go as created by the participants. A channel remains in use as long as at least one user is joined to it and the first person to create that channel is its "Operator" and controls that channel. This is another service requiring careful supervision if used by children due to the inherent anarchy of IRC.

You can find lists of publicly accessible IRC servers and clients and additional information on IRC in the news:alt.irc hierarchy newsgroups or on the web at http://www.yahoo.com/Computers_and_Internet/Internet/Chat/IRC/ .

Prepared by Peter Conrad Cumminsky, consultant, ASEE, CET, Team OS/2 (707) 987- 9484

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(C) Copyright 1993-1998 peterconrad@hotmail.com