Chapter 2. Surfing the Web

No doubt about it: the Web has transformed the world. From its humble beginnings as an information-sharing system for scientists and academics , the Web has rapidly developed since the early 1990s into a complex collection of sites and services that have changed the way people interact with each other.

It's safe to say the World Wide Web has something for everybody . It's a massive reference library, photo archive, software center, radio station, television network, music store, movie distribution system, and repository of such giddy weirdness as a page of dancing hamsters or a live video camera transmitting pictures of corn growing in Iowa. This chapter shows you how to set up your own personal window into this world: your Web browser.