Internet vs. Web
Just quicky today. I was trying to explain this to a client the other day. The difference between the Web and the Internet. People are quite happy to refer to the Web as the Internet, phrases such as, "I'll look it up on the Internet". There's nothing fundamentally wrong with this for casual usage, but what happens when you take on an "Internet Expert", or a "Web Consultant"? Do you know the difference, and more to the point; do they?
The Internet
The Internet, put in to the most basic terms, is a massive network of computers (including routers, switches, etc). Each computer on the Internet has an IP address, and using various protocols they are able to communicate with each other. For example, SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) is a way of transmitting email across the Internet. HTTP is the protocol used by the web to transfer files. An Internet Expert is likely to know lots of things:
- Email,
- IRC/Instant Messengers,
- News Servers,
- Routing/Networking/Connectivity,
- The Web (from a technical side),
- DNS,
- ICMP/TCP/UDP,
- and much much more!
The Web
The web runs on the Internet. The web is made up of Internet servers that can send and receive HTTP requests. You probably access the web through your browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, etc). Of course, the web does much more than just serve web pages these days. It also provides RSS feeds, web APIs and quite a few new-fangled technologies. So your Web Expert is quite iikely to tell you lots about:
- Websites/HTML/XML/RSS, etc,
- Managing a website,
- Tools such as Twitter and Flickr,
- Understanding of SEO and search engines,
- and much much more!
Essentially, someone who knows the Internet knows "techy" side of things, the 1's and 0's that connect it all up. Someone who knows the web will know more about the "content" side of things. Each with their own merits, and certainly not mutually exclusive.