The Internet, in short, can be best described as:
"What the highway system is to transport, the Internet is to data".
This gives the Internet the term "Information Superhighway" and "Infobahn".
("Bahn" is German for a road or railway).

The Internet is a free service available to all computer users who only pay a fee for the computer time spent on the Internet and the charge for telecommunications access.
Using the Internet is free, but it costs for access to it. However, if you are a university student, scientist or someone who works for a large organisation or is involved with the government, it is very likely that the computer you use is part of the Internet - and you can take advantage of all of the services it has to offer for free. But most people are not!

Technically, the Internet network is made up of thousands of sites that are linked up with each other around the world creating the "WWW". These sites are in fact networks themselves. These networks can either be LANs ("Local Area Network") or WANs ("Wide Area Network").
The "World Wide Web" ("WWW") is a growing development that allows the user to explore deep into the Internet, and "jump from place to place".

Because it is a complex structure, there has to be a standard which all networks and all computers have to abide by. This is called "protocol".
This makes the Internet flexible for all users with completely different makes of computer.

The "net" provides the user with useful options it can be used for:
Perhaps the most widely used application on the net is "E-Mail" (Electronic Mail). This is for communication with other users, and is far more efficient and cheaper than the traditional method of post (informally termed: "Snail Mail"!). The user transfers their message electronically via the net to its destination and leaves it in the other user's electronic "mail box". The other user can either read the message on the computer or on a print out ("hard copy").

The user can "seek" someone on the net. This can be done by looking into an on-line database to find their "e-mail address".
For example: alvinpon@geonetrix.co.uk

The net can allow the user to freely "download" information, software, pictures and music onto their computer from any available source (e.g.: Bulletin Board System "BBS").