VOICE ONE:
This is Mary Tillotson.
VOICE TWO:
And this is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English program,EXPLORATIONS. Today we present the second part of our series aboutcommunications. We tell how computers are linking many millions ofpeople around the world.
(THEME)
VOICE ONE:
Last week we told about the history of the communication ofinformation. We described how the telegraph was the first importantdevice that could move information quickly from one place toanother. And we discussed the beginning of satellite communications.
About six years after the first communications satellite wasplaced in orbit, the American Department of Defense began developinga new project. It began linking major research universities acrossthe United States. The project began in the earlynineteen-seventies.
VOICE TWO:
Professors at many American universities do research work for theUnited States Government. The Department of Defense wanted to linkthe universities together to help the professors cooperate in theirwork. Department of Defense officials decided to try to link theseuniversities by computer. The officials believed the computer wouldmake it easier for researchers to send large amounts of informationfrom research center to research center. They believed they couldlink computers at these universities by telephone.
VOICE ONE:
They were right. It became very easy to pass information from oneuniversity to another. University researchers working on the sameproject could share large amounts of information very quickly. Theyno longer had to wait several days for the mail to bring a copy ofthe research reports.
VOICE TWO:
This is how the system works. The computer is linked to atelephone by a device called a modem. The modem changes computerinformation into electronic messages that are sounds. These messagespass through the telephone equipment to the modem at the other endof the telephone line. This receiving modem changes the soundmessages back into information the computer can use. The firstmodern electronic communication device, the telegraph, sent only oneletter of the alphabet at a time. A computer can send thousands ofwords in a very few seconds.
VOICE ONE:
The link between universities quickly grew to include mostresearch centers and colleges in the United States. These linksbecame a major network. Two or more computers that are linkedtogether form a small network. They may be linked by a wire from onecomputer to another, or by telephone. A network can grow to almostany size.
For example, let us start with two computers in the same room ata university. They are linked to each other by a wire. In anotherpart of the university, two other computers also are linked usingthe same method. Then the four are connected with modems and atelephone line used only by the computers. This represents a smalllocal network of four computers.
Now, suppose this local network is linked by its modem throughtelephone lines to another university that has four computers. Thenyou have a network of eight computers. The other university can beanywhere, even thousands of kilometers away. These computers now cansend any kind of information that can be received by a computer -messages, reports, drawings, pictures, sound recordings. And, theinformation is exchanged immediately.
VOICE TWO:
Some experts have said it is easier to understand this network ofcomputers if you think of streets in a city. The streets make itpossible to travel from one place in the city to another. Majorstreets called highways connect cities. They make it possible totravel from one city to another.
Computers communicate information in much the same way. Localnetworks are like the city streets. And communication links betweendistant local networks are like the major highways. These highwaysmake communication possible between networks in different areas ofthe world.
VOICE ONE:
In nineteen-eighty-one this communication system linked onlytwo-hundred-thirteen computers. Only nine years later, it linkedmore than three-hundred-fifty-thousand computers. Today experts saythere are hundreds of millions of computers connected to networksthat provide links with computers around the world.
The experts say it is no longer possible to tell how manycomputers are linked to the information highway. The experts alsosay the system of computer networks is continuing to grow.
VOICE TWO:
This system of computer networks has had several different namessince it began. It is now called the Internet. Almost every majoruniversity in the world is part of the Internet. So are smallercolleges and many public and private schools. Magazines, newspapers,libraries, businesses, government agencies, and people in theirhomes also are part of the Internet.
VOICE ONE:
Computer experts began to greatly expand the Internet system inthe last years of the nineteen-eighties. This expansion was calledthe World Wide Web. It permits computer users to find and exchangewritten material and pictures much quicker than the older Internetsystem. How fast is the World Wide Web part of the Internet system?Here is an example. A computer user in London, England is seekinginformation about the volcanoes in the American state of Hawaii.
She types in the words “Hawaii” and “volcano” in a World Wide Websearch program. Within seconds the computer produces a list. Shechooses to examine information from the National Park Service’sheadquarters at the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. The Park Servicecomputer in Hawaii provides information about the huge volcanoesthere, and how they were formed. It also has other usefulinformation.
The researcher in London looks at the information. Then she hasher computer print a copy of it. Within seconds she has a paper copyof the National Park information including pictures. It has takenher less than five minutes to complete this research.
(MUSIC BRIDGE)
VOICE TWO:
The Internet and the World Wide Web have become vehicles forspeedy information exchange for most people who can use a computer.Much of the information on the Internet is very valuable. As aresearch tool, the Internet has no equal.
Suppose you want a copy of this Special English program,EXPLORATIONS. You can find the information by looking for the Voiceof America and Special English on the World Wide Web. The electronicaddress is
You can find written copies of most ofour programs and print them for your own use.
Almost any kind of information can be found through the Internet.There are electronic magazines for poetry or children’s stories.
There are areas within this electronic world where you can playgames or discuss politics or science. You can find valuable medicalinformation, read history, learn about new farming methods or justabout anything that interests you. You can look at and collect thebeautiful color pictures taken by the Hubble Space Telescope.
You can watch musicians perform their latest songs. You can evenjoin a group that meets electronically to discuss the music of theirfavorite rock and roll music group.
VOICE ONE:
Who pays for the Internet? That is not easy to explain. Eachnetwork, small or large, pays for itself. Networks decide how muchtheir members will pay for their part of the cost of the localservice connecting time.
Then all of the large networks decide how much each will pay tobe part of the larger network that covers a major area of thecountry. The area network in turn pays the national network for theservice it needs.
Each person who has a computer at home pays a company that letsthe computer connect to the Internet. These companies are calledInternet service providers. Most charge less than twenty dollars amonth for this service.
VOICE TWO:
Next week the EXPLORATIONS program will examine the future of theInternet and the World Wide Web. We will tell about moderntechnology that lets networks link with telephones that do not needwires.
(THEME)
VOICE ONE:
This Special English program, EXPLORATIONS, was written by PaulThompson. It was produced by Caty Weaver. This is Mary Tillotson.
VOICE TWO:
And this is Steve Ember. Listen again next week to the Voice ofAmerica for the last part of this series about the Information Age.