What is Internet? Write Advantages and Disadvantages of Internet

Internet is defined as an information super Highway, to access information over the web. However, It can be defined in many ways as follows. Internet refers to the global information system that-

1. is logically liked together by a globally unique address space based on the Internet Protocol(IP) or its subsequent extensions / Follows-ons.
2. is able to support communication using the transmission control protocol / Internet protocol(TCP/IP) suite or its subsequent extensions.
3. provides, user or makes accessible, either publicly or privately, high level services layered on the communications and related infrastructure described herein.

 This definition of the internet can be simplified to:

     The Internet is global system of networked computers together with their users and data.

Interesting Internet facts

       The following are the some of the interesting facts about Internet

1. Each day, approximately 33,000 new users go on-line.
2. As of August 1996, there were 72,600,000 users worldwide.
3. About one-third of Internet users are female.
4. In January 1997, the Internet hosts exceeded 16,000,000.
5. Internet connections were available in 177 countries, as on March 1997.
6. Every three months, the number of World Wide Web sites approximately doubles.
7. A single Google query uses 1,000 computers in 0.2 seconds to retrieve an answer
8. 16% to 20% of the searches Google gets each day have never been Googled before.  
9. The most expensive keyword for Google AdWords is "insurance." 
10. The first registered domain was symbolics.com.

Advantages of  Internet:

                     Internet covers almost every aspect of life, one can think of. Here we will discuss some of the advantages of  Internet:

1. Internet allows us to communicate with the people sitting at remote locations. There are various apps available on the web that uses Internet as a medium for communication. One can find various networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo, Google+, Flickr, and Orkut.
2. Once can surf for nay kind of information over the internet. Information regarding various topis such as Technology, Health & Science, Social Studies, Geographical Information, Information Technology, Products ect can be surfed with the help of a search engine.
3. A part from communication and information, internet also serves a medium for entertainment like Online Television, Online Games, songs, videos, Social Networking Apps.
4.  Internet allows us to use many services like internet banking, matrimonial services, Online shopping, Online Ticket booking, Online Bill Payment, Data Sharing, E-mail.
5.  Internet provides concept of electronic commerce, that allows the business deals to be conducted on electrical systems.

Disadvantages of  Internet:

                  However, Internet has provided to be a powerful source of information in almost every filed, yet thee exists many disadvantages.

1. There are always chances to loose personal information such as name,address, credit card number. Therefore, one should be very careful while sharing such information. One should use credit cards only through authenticated sites.
2. Another disadvantage is the spamming. Spamming corresponds to the unwanted e-mail in bulk. These mails serve no purpose and lead to obstruction of entire system.
3. Virus can easily be spread to the computers connected to internet. Such virus may cause your system to crash or your important data may get deleted.
4. Also a biggest threat on internet is pornography. There are many pornographic sites that can be found, letting your children to use internet which indirectly affects the children mental life.
5. There are various websites that do not provide the authenticated information. This leads to misconception among many people.  

Source: In-line/On- line: Fundamentals of the Internet and the World Wide Web, 2/e - by
Raymond Greenlaw and Ellen Hepp, Publishers: TMH