Internet access requires the use of hardware like computer terminals.
The Internet is the global system of interconnected computer networks that use the Internet protocol suite -LRB- TCP / IP -RRB- to link devices worldwide .. Internet protocol suite. Internet protocol suite. It is a network of networks that consists of private , public , academic , business , and government networks of local to global scope , linked by a broad array of electronic , wireless , and optical networking technologies .. The Internet carries an extensive range of information resources and services , such as the inter-linked hypertext documents and applications of the World Wide Web -LRB- WWW -RRB- , electronic mail , telephony , and file sharing .. World Wide Web. World Wide Web. hypertext. hypertext. applications. Web application. electronic mail. email. telephony. voice over IP. file sharing. file sharing. The origins of the Internet date back to research commissioned by the United States federal government in the 1960s to build robust , fault-tolerant communication via computer networks .. United States federal government. Federal government of the United States. The primary precursor network , the ARPANET , initially served as a backbone for interconnection of regional academic and military networks in the 1980s .. ARPANET. ARPANET. The funding of the National Science Foundation Network as a new backbone in the 1980s , as well as private funding for other commercial extensions , led to worldwide participation in the development of new networking technologies , and the merger of many networks .. National Science Foundation Network. National Science Foundation Network. The linking of commercial networks and enterprises by the early 1990s marks the beginning of the transition to the modern Internet , and generated a sustained exponential growth as generations of institutional , personal , and mobile computers were connected to the network .. personal. personal computer. mobile. mobile device. Although the Internet was widely used by academia since the 1980s , the commercialization incorporated its services and technologies into virtually every aspect of modern life .. academia. academia. commercialization. commercialization of the Internet. Internet use grew rapidly in the West from the mid-1990s and from the late 1990s in the developing world .. developing world. developing world. In the two decades since then , Internet use has grown 100-times , measured for the period of one year , to over one third of the world population .. world population. world population. Most traditional communications media , including telephony , radio , television , paper mail and newspapers are being reshaped or redefined by the Internet , giving birth to new services such as email , Internet telephony , Internet television , online music , digital newspapers , and video streaming websites .. telephony. voice over IP. email. email. Internet telephony. Internet telephony. Internet television. Internet television. online music. online music. video streaming. video streaming. Newspaper , book , and other print publishing are adapting to website technology , or are reshaped into blogging , web feeds and online news aggregators .. website. Web site. blogging. blogging. The Internet has enabled and accelerated new forms of personal interactions through instant messaging , Internet forums , and social networking .. personal. personal computer. instant messaging. instant messaging. social networking. social network service. Online shopping has grown exponentially both for major retailers and small businesses and entrepreneurs , as it enables firms to extend their `` brick and mortar '' presence to serve a larger market or even sell goods and services entirely online .. Online shopping. Online shopping. brick and mortar. brick and mortar. sell goods and services entirely online. Online store. Business-to-business and financial services on the Internet affect supply chains across entire industries .. Business-to-business. Business-to-business. financial services. financial services. The Internet has no centralized governance in either technological implementation or policies for access and usage ; each constituent network sets its own policies .. Only the overreaching definitions of the two principal name spaces in the Internet , the Internet Protocol address space and the Domain Name System -LRB- DNS -RRB- , are directed by a maintainer organization , the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers -LRB- ICANN -RRB- .. Internet Protocol address. IP address. Domain Name System. Domain Name System. Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. The technical underpinning and standardization of the core protocols is an activity of the Internet Engineering Task Force -LRB- IETF -RRB- , a non-profit organization of loosely affiliated international participants that anyone may associate with by contributing technical expertise .. Internet Engineering Task Force. Internet Engineering Task Force