08 Jan 10 StudentScholarships.org - The Internet has changed the 21st Century

The invention that has made the most impact in the 21st Century is the Internet. It is the largest network in the world, an information highway made up of more than a million computers in over a hundred countries for purposes ranging from commercial endeavors to academia. Electronic-Mail, the Web and Electronic-Commerce are a few examples of the tremendous contributions the Internet as made to society as we know it today.

Electronic mail, or E-Mail, is one of the most popular avenues of the internet. E-mail is a system for sending and receiving messages electronically over a computer network, as between personal computers. 'e-mail.' The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. Answers.com GuruNet Corp. 09 Aug. 2005. The internet revolutionized e-mail by turning countless incompatible islands into one global system. It has become the 'messaging system for the planet.' I doubt you will find very many people who have not heard of hotmail, yahoo or netscape.

The World Wide Web is another major service on the Internet. It is made up of Web servers that store and disseminate Web pages, which are documents that contain text, graphics, animations and videos to anyone within an Internet connection. By clicking a link, vast amounts of information and knowledge are at your fingertips. Google.com, Askgeeves.com, and looking up your favorite recipe from a show on the Food Network is possible through Web pages on the Internet.

Electronic-Commerce, or E-Commerce, has opened up business opportunities all over the world. By doing business on-line, mainly via the Web, goods and services can be purchased without ever leaving the comfort of your own home. E-Commerce covers everything from buying books and paying bills, to providing a service online.

At the press of a button or click of a mouse, people all over the world have the ability to find data on every subject and product on earth. The Internet has brought us electronic mail (e-mail,) the Web, information retrieval, and e-commerce to name a few of the most beneficial. The Internet has opened up communication and made knowledge only a click away from those who desire it.