What is the Internet?

Examples of the Internet

When someone asks for an example of the Internet, they want a concrete activity that uses the Internet to move data. Common examples:

1. Sending a WhatsApp message to a friend in another city.
2. Sending or receiving an email through Gmail or Outlook.
3. Joining a Zoom or Google Meet class for online study.
4. Searching for information on Google for a school project.
5. Watching a video on YouTube or a movie on Netflix.
6. Playing an online game with friends who live in another country.
7. Uploading a file to Google Drive or sharing a photo on Dropbox.
8. Opening a website like wikipedia.org or bbc.com in your browser.

Each one of these uses the Internet to move data from one device to another. They are different activities, but they all share the same network.

A Network of Networks

The Internet is not one single network. It is many networks of all sizes that are linked together. Home Wi-Fi, school networks, office networks, and the networks run by phone and cable companies all connect up to form the global Internet.

It started in the late 1960s as a project called ARPANET in the United States. Today it links billions of devices across the world.

The Internet Is Just the Network

The Internet by itself does not do anything you can see on a screen. It does not show you web pages, play your videos, or carry your messages by itself. It is the wires, cables, fibre, Wi-Fi, and satellites that move data from one device to another.

Here is a simple view of what that network looks like. Computers in each city connect to a local hub, and those city hubs link up across the world:

    graph LR
    N1["🏠 Home"] --- NYC((New York))
    N2["🏢 Office"] --- NYC
    N3["🎓 University"] --- LAX((Los Angeles))
    N4["☕ Café"] --- LAX
    N5["🏨 Hotel"] --- RIO((Rio))
    N6["🏟️ Stadium"] --- RIO
    N7["🏛️ Library"] --- LON((London))
    N8["🏥 Hospital"] --- LON
    N9["🍴 Restaurant"] --- PAR((Paris))
    N10["🏨 Hotel"] --- PAR
    N11["🏛️ Museum"] --- ROM((Rome))
    N12["🏪 Shop"] --- ROM
    N13["🏪 Bazaar"] --- IST((Istanbul))
    N14["☕ Café"] --- IST
    N15["✈️ Airport"] --- DXB((Dubai))
    N16["🏨 Hotel"] --- DXB
    N17["🍴 Restaurant"] --- BKK((Bangkok))
    N18["🏨 Hotel"] --- BKK
    N19["🏢 Office"] --- SIN((Singapore))
    N20["📱 Mobile"] --- SIN
    N21["🎓 School"] --- TYO((Tokyo))
    N22["🏪 Shop"] --- TYO
    N23["🏠 Home"] --- SYD((Sydney))
    N24["🏟️ Stadium"] --- SYD

    NYC === LAX
    NYC === RIO
    NYC === LON
    LON === PAR
    PAR === ROM
    ROM === IST
    IST === DXB
    DXB === SIN
    SIN === BKK
    SIN === TYO
    LAX === TYO
    LAX === SYD
    SIN === SYD

    classDef nyc fill:#fecaca,stroke:#dc2626,color:#7f1d1d
    classDef lax fill:#fed7aa,stroke:#ea580c,color:#7c2d12
    classDef rio fill:#fef08a,stroke:#ca8a04,color:#713f12
    classDef lon fill:#d9f99d,stroke:#65a30d,color:#365314
    classDef par fill:#bbf7d0,stroke:#16a34a,color:#14532d
    classDef rom fill:#99f6e4,stroke:#0d9488,color:#134e4a
    classDef ist fill:#a5f3fc,stroke:#0891b2,color:#164e63
    classDef dxb fill:#bae6fd,stroke:#0284c7,color:#0c4a6e
    classDef bkk fill:#bfdbfe,stroke:#2563eb,color:#1e3a8a
    classDef sin fill:#c7d2fe,stroke:#4f46e5,color:#312e81
    classDef tyo fill:#e9d5ff,stroke:#9333ea,color:#581c87
    classDef syd fill:#fbcfe8,stroke:#db2777,color:#831843

    class NYC nyc
    class LAX lax
    class RIO rio
    class LON lon
    class PAR par
    class ROM rom
    class IST ist
    class DXB dxb
    class BKK bkk
    class SIN sin
    class TYO tyo
    class SYD syd

    classDef home fill:#ffe4e6,stroke:#fb7185,color:#881337
    classDef office fill:#e2e8f0,stroke:#64748b,color:#1e293b
    classDef school fill:#ede9fe,stroke:#a78bfa,color:#4c1d95
    classDef cafe fill:#fde68a,stroke:#fbbf24,color:#78350f
    classDef hotel fill:#fce7f3,stroke:#f472b6,color:#9d174d
    classDef stadium fill:#d1fae5,stroke:#34d399,color:#064e3b
    classDef library fill:#f5f5f4,stroke:#a8a29e,color:#1c1917
    classDef hospital fill:#fee2e2,stroke:#fca5a5,color:#7f1d1d
    classDef restaurant fill:#ffedd5,stroke:#fdba74,color:#7c2d12
    classDef shop fill:#ecfccb,stroke:#a3e635,color:#365314
    classDef airport fill:#e0f2fe,stroke:#7dd3fc,color:#0c4a6e
    classDef mobile fill:#fae8ff,stroke:#e879f9,color:#701a75

    class N1,N23 home
    class N2,N19 office
    class N3,N21 school
    class N4,N14 cafe
    class N5,N10,N16,N18 hotel
    class N6,N24 stadium
    class N7,N11 library
    class N8 hospital
    class N9,N17 restaurant
    class N12,N13,N22 shop
    class N15 airport
    class N20 mobile
  

A message from a home network in New York can reach a school in Tokyo because each small network plugs into its city hub, and the city hubs are linked across oceans. The Internet is the sum of all these links, big and small.

To get useful work done on the Internet, you need a service that runs on top of it.

Services That Run on the Internet

This is the most important point about the Internet. The Internet is not the same as any one thing you use on it. Many different services share the same Internet:

• The World Wide Web is the most famous service. You use it every time you open a website in a browser, like https://www.google.com or https://www.wikipedia.org.
• Email lets you send and receive messages. Examples: Gmail, Outlook.
• Video calls let you see and hear other people. Examples: Zoom, Google Meet, WhatsApp video.
• Messaging apps carry short text messages. Examples: WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal.
• Online games let you play with people in other cities or countries. Examples: PUBG, Minecraft, Fortnite.
• Streaming services deliver videos and music to your device. Examples: Netflix, YouTube, Spotify.
• File transfer moves files between computers. Examples: FTP, cloud uploads to Google Drive or Dropbox.

All of these services share the same Internet. The Internet does not care which service is using it; it just moves the data.

A Simple Analogy

Think of the Internet as the roads of a city, and the services that run on it as the vehicles using those roads:

• Cars are video calls (Zoom, Google Meet).
• Buses are web pages in your browser (the WWW).
• Motorbikes are instant messages (WhatsApp).
• Trucks are large file downloads.
• Post vans are emails.

All of them need the roads. The roads do not care which vehicle is using them. The roads are the Internet. Each kind of vehicle is a different service that uses the Internet.

Flashcard

In one line, what is the Internet?

Tap to reveal

Answer

A global network of connected computers, phones, and servers.

• It started in the late 1960s as ARPANET in the United States.
• The Internet is just the network. Different services (the Web, email, video calls, games) all run on top of it.

Flashcard

Name three services that run on the Internet apart from the World Wide Web.

Tap to reveal

Answer

Any three of these are correct:

• Email
• Video calls (Zoom, Google Meet)
• Messaging apps (WhatsApp, Telegram)
• File transfer (FTP)
• Online games
• Streaming services (Netflix, Spotify)

All of them use the Internet, but none of them are the Web.

For the basics of the World Wide Web, see What is WWW?. For a side-by-side comparison of the Internet and the Web, see Internet vs World Wide Web.