Accessing the Web

Accessing the Web
Using the Web is in fact easy. You can use a mouse for pointing and clicking to take you to different information on the web, to move around from host to host on the Internet, and view graphics files. The two most common client software programs for the Web are NCSA Mosaic and Netscape, however there are dozens of other programs that also access the Web. Even without the graphics, the Web is quite attractive, because you can see formatted text with things such as boldface, different fonts and colors.

The Web however is not a universal panacea for the Internet. It is just one service, and even with its advanced interface, it has many limitations. One of the biggest limitations is that it is primarily a one-way medium: there are very few places on the Web where you can interact with anything more than a search command. Although this is not an inherent limitation of the structure of the, people on the Internet seem to like interactive services, such as mail and usenet news, a lot more than ones where you mostly look at screens of information.

This is not to say that there isn't great information on the Web, or that it isn't at all interactive. Because you can view graphics easily, information that is mostly graphical such as art collections, maps, photographs and so on can be arranged easily on the Web. And some sites, particulary commercial sites have been using the Web's interactive features to allow you to place orders for merchandise online.