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A native of Massachusetts, Ned Snell successfully ignored computers and networks through all of high school and college. While failing as an actor in New York, he marched through a variety of day jobstest-prep course writer, second grade
schoolteacher, telemarketer, and VCR tape-changer at Bloomingdale's. In 1986, he took a proofreading job at a large software company and soon discovered a knack for making plain sense of technology.
He went on to senior writing and editing positions at several software companies, then switched sides and jumped to computer journalism. Snell has served as an award-winning writer and editor for several major computer industry publications, covering
the breadth of computer topics from mainframe and PC computers, to networks, to software.
Today, he continues his acting career but lives pretty well anyway, thanks to his writing. He lives in Indianapolis with his wife Nancy and son José. Snell is also the author of Souping Up Windows, published by Sams.
Time. U.S. News & World Report. Newsweek. Harpers. The New York Times. The Wall Street Journal. Entertainment Weekly.
These and many more in the print and broadcast media have lately devoted an increasing amount of space and time to the Internet, that vast, confusing computer community floating out in what journals call "cyberspace." While alternately hyping
the Internet and spinning Orwellian warnings about it, members of the media usually mention the fact that at least 20 million peoplemaybe 25 million, depending on whom you askuse the Internet. To better inform their readers, journals also
interpret those figures, pointing out that 20 million is "a lot" and 25 million is "even more."
So it is. In fact, that's more than the populations of 7 of the 12 nations in the European Community, and more than the population in 49 of the 50 U.S. states. Still_ maybe I'm not cyber-hip, but it seems to me that 5.5 billion minus 20 (or 25) million
leaves an impressive number of people who are on the planet but off the Internet. Not all of the Internet have-nots read Time, of course. The fact remains, however, that many people have heard about the Internet, know it's important, and know that it's
growing like a fungus, but don't know much beyond that. They represent a potential customer base of more than 5 billion buyers for this book. (But if only half of those people buy it, I'll be satisfied.)
Many have heard Al Gorein his 1988 presidential campaign and as U.S. Vice President since 1993wax lyrical about the "Information Superhighway" that will bring everyone a gift bag of currently ill-defined, nonspecific treasures
(but treasures nonetheless), and many know that the Internet is somehow related to the Superhighway scheme. But again, their understanding ends there. (Not Al's fault_historically, vice presidents have trouble holding anyone's attention long enough to
explain anything complicated. That's why vice presidents find themselves in charge of stuff like the Information Superhighway and the space program, projects that make better progress when no one is paying attentionsomething a vice president's
involvement ensures.)
By now, discussion about the Internet has spiraled up to a rare and peculiar example of cross-miscommunication. Everybody's talking about the Internet, but nobody's saying anything. If it's important and growing and valuable, some folks might want to
know what it's all aboutwhether they plan to actually use it or not. Many people read about politics without running for office or without even voting. I know people who've read books about India but never traveled east of Philadelphia. Every
discussion of the Internet longer than an article in Time is, however, written in a language that can be decoded by only the kind of people who already know all about the Internet.
Here we discover an unpleasant gap in our book publishing infrastructure. Astronomer Carl Sagan (Cosmos) and historian Daniel J. Boorstin (The Discoverers) write books solely to satisfy our curiosity. Neither author provides any information of
immediate, practical use to the average reader. When Sagan says Mars is always at least 35 million miles from Cleveland, he's not helping you plan your trip. When Boorstin tells you Christopher Columbus went to his grave convinced that Cuba was, in fact,
China, you probably can't use that information to get a raise.
I think I'm relatively safe in writing that, with the exceptions of Carl and Daniel, most modern writers attempt to tell you how to do somethingassuming, as they do, that you really want to do something. They don't care if you're busy or really
tired.
At this writing, neither Carl nor Daniel has written a book about the Internet. That means the existing books about the Internet have the annoying habit of attempting to teach every reader how to use the Internet, step by grueling step. If, however,
the Internet is really so big and important, if it's really a first step toward the Superhighway that's headed into every home, shouldn't there be a way to learn more about itin the abstractwithout tripping over instructions?
I think so, and because Carl and Dan were dragging their feet, I decided to give it a shot. Welcome aboard.
I wrote this book so that everyoneeven those who've never touched a computercould become well informed about what the Internet is, what it means, and where it's going. I think you'll find that the Internet is exciting, useful and even
funbut I've deliberately tried not to "sell" you on the Internet. I'll show you what it's about. You can decide whether you like it or not.
This book does not attempt to teach you how to use the Internet or, for that matter, how to use a computer or network. I do not expect you to know the least thing about computers or the Internet to get started. This book simply provides an overview of
the world of the Internet; the subject is the Internet, not the machines that provide access to it. If you do have computer experience, you'll still find this book valuable.
Also, this book does not assume that you are planning to become an Internet user. It assumes only that you are curious. (No commitment, no strings, honest!) If you think you may ultimately become an Internet user, it does provide a quick, painless way
to get grounded before moving on to the specifics of Internet operation. If you're undecided about whether or not to join the Internet crowd, you'll make a decision by the time you reach Chapter 9.
That reminds mea word must be said about the Glossary at the back of this book. You don't need it. Nobody needs it. There are no technical terms of any kind in this book. OK_ you'll see a few, but I hardly ever use them, and when I do, I explain
them very simply. And I left out completely the hundreds of terms you would find in any other Internet book.
The truth is that I was afraid I might run out of material before I wrote 200 pages, so I put a glossary in my outline and my editor made me write it. If you read this book front to back though, trust me, you can forget about the glossary. (If you jump
around a lot, you might jump past the place where a term is explained, and then you'd need the glossary; but that's not my fault.)
This book asks 10 big questions. Nine of them lead to the nine most important aspects of the Internet, and one (Chapter 10) leads to other resources for the deeply curious. Within each chapter, everything you'll see is an answer to the question posed
in that chapter's title.
Feel free to read the questions and answers in order or out of order. You may find it most rewarding to read them in order, or at least to read Chapters 1 and 2 to get initiated before going on to subsequent chapters.
In Chapter 10, you'll find information about other Internet resources for further study or entertainment. At the back of the book, you'll find the complete glossary, a detailed index, and a form you can use to order more advanced books about the
Internet.
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