One computer is a computer. Two or more connected and able to exchange data, make a network. Allowing computers to talk to each was one of the great technological challenges of the late 20th century.
Before the Internet came about there were other solutions to the need for data exchange and computer networking.
At various stages, these solutions were hailed as 'the future'.
The Internet delivered e-mail - that other great social and business phenomenon of the last few years.
Since the late 1990s e-mail has started to reach every area of our lives, transforming the way we organise our work and social time.
Up to 50 million people ...
The Internet didn't just happen overnight - rather it was the end result of a search that had been in place since the late 1950s.
By the time the world started to get online in the mid 1990s, the Net had been almost 40 years in the making.