Users

The Internet has numerous valuable uses that have come to be incorporated into everyday life in the first world. The Internet has not only revolutionized communications and the workplace, but it has revolutionized home entertainment and even education. In fact, hardly any facet of life has gone untouched by the many uses of the Internet. As the popularity of mobile devices and smartphones has grown, the uses of the Internet have widened, carried on the back of the mobile communications satellite networks. Many endeavours once limited by a need to travel have been made to be done in the home via Internet applications. The number of workers and entrepreneurs operating from home has grown because of the Internet. University classes from most institutions can be completed through the Internet rather than in traditional classrooms. Music and movies are now delivered in digital formats via the Internet instead of embedded on hard media.

The wide variety of uses of the Internet is made possible through the following services:

World Wide Web – The World Wide Web is perhaps the most popular of services provided by the Internet. The Web allows for the fast transfer of information in the form of text, images, and other media through web browsers or specialized applications. The most popular web browsers to date are Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, Apple Safari, the open-source Mozilla Firefox, and Google Chrome. Information is retrieved via a system of domain names and linked IP addresses.

Communication – Electronic mail has made text-driven communication nearly instantaneous and without the need for paper as required by fax machines. Voice and video communication are also possible through the Internet and have become increasing popular as Internet speed and the technology of applications supporting such features have grown. The Internet has also spawned an entirely new form of communication and information-sharing known as social networking. Social networks such as MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter allow users with common interests or locations to locate each other, communicate, and share information. Some social networks specialize in certain media, such as YouTube for video and Flickr for photos.

Data Transfer – The Internet allows for the transfer of data beyond what can be done through the Web or through communications applications. Although HTTP and electronic mail can be used to share data files, the process is more efficiently accomplished through file transfer protocol (FTP). In addition to FTP, peer-to-peer applications allow for files to be exchanged directly from one computer user to another. To increase speed, many peer-to-peer systems allow for various parts of a file to be transferred from multiple users simultaneously, significantly increasing the speed of the transfer.