Welcome to my WebTV Basics class.
This section will discuss some of the benefits as well as the drawbacks about WebTV.
The most important piece of information I can offer anyone who has just hooked up to WebTV is very simple.....follow the TUTORIAL set up by the folks at WebTV. There are tutorials for basically everything you need to do. However, some things are not fully detailed. In this section, I will cover little added items as well as a brief section on Internet terminology. If you are on a computer viewing this and are interested in WebTV, please scroll down to the section PROS AND CONS. Otherwise, enjoy this little intro to the basics.

BUTTONS
The WebTV keyboard (KB) has preset buttons to take you directly to special areas or functions.

The FAVS button allows you to store sites you have been to and want quick access back to. You can set your FAVORITES folders any way you want. For instance, all my web workings, such as Dave's, Draac's, GeoCities File Manager, and such are saved in a folder I named WEB PAGES. This way when I am working on my web page, I can quickly go to a site for info or to look for specific pictures, sounds and so on. You can save this page in a folder like this so that you can rapidly access it.

The HOME button will send you back to your WebTV home, or in other words, the site you first come on at when you sign on. Since WebTV does not have a CLOSE button, it is often recommended that you use the HOME button to close files. In my case, to sign off of GeoCities, I must use the HOME button to close the system. On your sign in screen, you will find many options that can provide hours of entertainment and education. Take the time to look around and explore them all. Hey folks, this is not a computer, so you don't have to worry about crashing your system. Fool proof, for dummies like me....its safe and user friendly.

The SEARCH button is just for that...searching for something on the Internet. Hit that button and you can search for a specific topic on the Net. For example, you like dog shows. Hit SEARCH and type in....DOG SHOWS...press RETURN and ta da...a list of sites that discuss dog shows. Cool! WebTv use INFOSEEK as its search engine, but there are many more to choose from. Right now ALTA VISTA is rated as the largest, but truthfully, INFOSEEK can handle most of your needs.

The MAIL button will take you to your E-Mail account. This is where you send and receive your E-Mail at. If your little red light on your box or eye comes on, you have mail. Hit MAIL while surfing and you can read your mail, then hit BACK to go to the site you were just visiting. See, its all so easy.

Next is my favorite button. GO TO will let you go to any addy on the net you want. When you see all those Internet addys on TV, like WWW.HGTV.COM, this would be the button to press. For your convienence, part of the addy is already there. I use this button alot! It is easy to use anytime you need it. If someone gives you an addy or URL (same thing really), hit GOTO and like magic, you're there. The other big feature of this key is for locating a URL/addy for a site you may be on for later use. If you hit your GOTO button now, then hit the CURRENT button on the screen, you will see the URL/addy for this page. Try it.

The SAVE button is another big favorite of mine. For instance, if you want to save this page in your FAVORITES folder, all you do is hit SAVE and a list of your FAVORITES folders will pop up and you can save this in which ever folder you want. You read about that in the FAVS paragraph above. Learn to set up your folders right, and this SAVE key will become a good friend.

The SEND button allows you to send E-Mail from anywhere on your system. This is used also to send someone a picture, or yourself for later viewing, via E-Mail. Perhaps you want to let a friend know about this site, you could hit SEND and the information about this page would be sent along with your E-Mail. Like I have said a million times already...easy, just my style.

Now for the button you will love and hate...the BACK button. If you are into CHAT rooms, this key can be very funny and frustrating. Due to it location on the KB, it is often too easy to hit at the wrong time. People in the CHAT rooms are always bumping themselves out of the rooms by hitting this key. Also, when working on the net, I often hit it by mistake (I have big hands...clumsy too) and get sent back one site. Still, this is a VERY useful key to have, and it can save you lots of time getting out of sites.

This has been a quick guide to some of the buttons that will make your life much easier on the Net.

PROS AND CONS

Ok friends, here goes the praise and mud slinging area of my page.
The Pros of WebTV
This is probably the easiest section for me. I love this thing. WebTv has made the future of TV come one step closer to your livingroom. In the near future of digital TV's, they will have Net access just like this. Hey, we are on the cutting edge of technology if you are on WebTV. You too can sit on your couch, recliner, floor or bed and surf the Net without the need for a costly computer, lots of wires, and restricted areas for putting a computer. The KB is wireless, and comes with a little remote just like your TV, plus, it can control your TV and cable/satellite system.
Cost is another major factor. This thing didn't cost anywhere near what a computer system would have. Like I said, I paid $250 at my local Sears for the whole system. There is the old Classic system still available, but I personally recommend that you go ahead and purchase the Plus unit instead. Many more benefits and options. If you want, HP (Hewlitt-Packard) and Canon printers work with this system, so you can also print what you are looking at, or working on, right off your TV. Cool! If you have a homepage with a File Manager, you can also use it to type letters and print them out. No need for a word processor.
Another big advantage is size and comfort, my two favorites. Seems when I worked on a computer, my eyes got red and tired. I had to squint to see small text and sat in an uncomfortable chair at a desk. I know I didn't want to come home and do that again!!!!!!! If your vision is not up to its best, you can appreciate surfing the Net on a screen you can see clearly from across the room while sitting in your favorite chair or sofa. I know I do!!!!!
Since more and more families are getting into the Net together, it just makes sense to do it together on a big screen, everybody comfortably positioned in their favorite spot, and watching it as a family. Try that on one of those puny computer screen!!!
If you want to keep in touch with family members around the country, but they can't afford a big expensive bulky computer system, or they just want something to keep in touch with cheaply (sorry Candice Bergen), hey, the Net is the way to do it. You can have a homepage with updates and pictures of the family and kids in California, and Grandma Betty in New Hampshire can see what is going on, clearly on a big screen, without grabbing a magnifing glass to see little Tommy on a puny computer screen. And Grandma doesn't have to be afraid of this, heck, trust me, after 1 1/2 months on this thing, if I haven't crashed it, she can't!
Another feature of the size of the TV screen is learning ability. Kids have a report for school to do? Here they can see what they are looking for without missing any details. And if you like the "naughty" sites, hey on your teeny computer screen, shes a B cup, on my 35" TV, shes a double D! (Don't take offense "righteous" people, I'm trying to be funny, lighten up!)
To put it simply, this system is the best way to go for the money. It allows you to spend family time together on the Net, instead of dad up in another room half the night. It provides easy access for education on the Net, an inexpensive way to set up a homepage for family and friends to see whats happening with you, and an E-Mail account for you. Mostly, no more eye strain, numb butt, and tired positions (ever notice how people on a computer always have to get up and stretch all the time?). We can do fancy E-Mail, view both IE and Netscape sites, and go most anywhere your heart desires. Enough bragging and praising this thing, now on to the down side.

THE CONS OF WEBTV

Most of the downs talked about here mean little to me, so I will try to remain unbiased.
Most audios and AVI's (moving videos) are not viewable on WebTv. There are plenty that are, but don't be surprised if you run into sites that tell you your system is not compatible with them. They are few and far between, but that WILL happen. Also, you will sometimes get blocked from sites because of "cookies" and some "SSL". This problem seems to be changing quickly though as WebTV makes its presence known to the Internet community. If you hit a site that blocks you from some areas, let the sites webmaster know, often they will soon make a change to allow WebTV access. You CAN'T do things like Quicken, WordPerfect and other programs on here, you don't have a hard drive. But in all fairness, I wouldn't want my personal information on a computer that has Net access anyway. I think that is just plain stupid with todays technology! Hackers are everywhere, and if you have a computer with a phone line hooked up to it, YOU CAN BE THE NEXT VICTIM.
The truth of the matter is, I really do own a computer.....a 7 year old 386/33sx with 2mb of ram that I bought out of the paper for less than what I paid for my WebTV. In computer lingo, thats a tinker toy. But guess what, my information is private!!!! Its to small and gutless to even cruise the Net, but I can do my home finances on it, my personal information, and know that I am completely safe from any piracy! OK, I know, I'm ranting again, but this IS a major issue today. If you own a computer and are on-line, you are succeptible to piracy, period! Back to the CONS. One more draw back is JAVA SCRIPT. Thats a computer language that is used frequently in alot of interactive sites (chat rooms, game sites, etc.). That can prevent you access. But again (boy, I just don't give up, do I?), the way technology is advancing, that may become a thing of the past. For all you long time 'puter people, I personally remember signing on to AOL on an 80/88 (don't ask if you don't know, but you can probably see one in the Smithsonian next to the Dinosaurs) at an HOURLY rate of $6. Then the BBS's were big things. AOL told me then that they would never go to a monthly plan because the Internet couldn't support it. Well, just open your eyes and take a good look folks (especially the moronic webmasters that have told me to "get a real computer"), technology blew AOL into a crash, costing them over a billion dollars (according to their TV ad I saw earlier tonight) to keep up grading their system. BBS's are almost a thing of the past. With the advent of the new Digital TV (yes folks, in the next few years you WILL have to get a new TV), WebTv type systems WILL become the norm, not the "newbie" like it is now ( in case you don't know it yet, Uncle Bill (Bill Gates) bought WebTV. When did he ever get into anything that didn't become the norm?). Aprroximately 80% of all new digi TVs will have internet service built in to them...guess whos? So for all you webmasters out there that tell WebTV'ers to "get a real computer", all I can say is "get a reality check", AOL grew up, BBS's have all but died, reality chech Webmaster, its now YOUR turn to catch up to Uncle Bill before he blows your doors off! OK, I know this was supposed to be an objective CONS site, but as I said in the beginning, I don't really find any. With Net piracy on the rise, privacy issues of Big Brother watching, why would you want a computer on-line with all your personal information on it????? If you want a computer, buy a cheap second hand, or in my case...a tinker toy, computer for your private stuff and get with the program and get WebTv. In the immortal words of Bartle & James....Thank you for your support.

Now that you have survived that tiraid, lets move on to some simple Net terminology for newbies.

COMMON NET TERMINOLOGY

This is not a complete list of terminology, but a few terms to help you if you are new.

URL and Addy
You will hear this term often. Simply put, it is your or someone elses Internet address. Everyone on the Internet has one. As mentioned before, to see this pages URL/addy, hit your GOTO button, then hit CURRENT, and you will see it. All the ads on TV that tell you to visit them, thats a URL/addy that they are giving you.

HTML, JAVA SCRIPT

These are languages used primarily on the Net. Everything you are reading here, was created with HTML. The only JAVA used here are the little pop-up boxes and buttons you have seen around on my pages. DON'T be afraid of learning these, especially HTML. Its very easy to learn with all the help provided out here on the Net.

BOOKMARK

This means saving a particular page in your FAVORITES folders. Most sites first page (or net slang...front door) will be the page you will BOOKMARK. Many sites change their other pages names or locations often, so they will usually tell you which page to BOOKMARK.

FILE MANAGER

Like the name implies, this is where you control your files on a site. I am currently in my FILE MANAGER while I am typing this, but you are viewing it from an external site. Unless you are a scum bag hacker, you can't get in here to change anything. Only you can get into your FILE MANAGER, unless your homepage provider has a weak security system. Thats why I like GeoCities. Theirs is pretty strong.

If you have more questions, feel free to email me.