1. Please begin by defining the Internet.

OK. We'll try. Defining the Internet today is a bit more problematic, though, than it was several years ago. Its definition varies from person to person. For example, during its early years, the Internet was defined as a collection of computer networks based on a specific set of network standards, namely, TCP/IP. This was the definition we gave in Chapter 1. Other users, however, whose focus might be on the information they have acquired or the people with whom they have communicated, might define the Internet as a global collection of diverse resources, or as an electronic community of people. In fact, compared to the Internet's early days, some people have commented that the Internet has been transformed from a community of networks to a network of communities. Still others, whose only experience with the Internet is using the World Wide Web, might say the Internet and World Wide Web are synonymous and hence the Internet is the World Wide Web. Consequently, defining the Internet is a function of perspective. Regardless of the definition or perspective, the Internet interconnects individual, autonomous computer networks and enables them to function and appear as a single, global network.