Internet

[infonympho]

What, if any, difference is there between the w.w.w. and the internet?!

[carl6969]

What, if any, difference is there between the w.w.w. and the internet?!

The Internet is the system of networks that connects computers around the world. "WWW" is an abbreviatation for "world wide web" and technically refers to all the documents which reside on the Internet and can be accessed. For the typical Internet user there is no real difference in the two terms and they are frequently interchanged and used with the same meaning my many people.

[pandoraspox]

Well 'in the beginning' did not all URL's include www. after http://? I thought that "AOL" was internet exclusively, all others were w.w.w.? Isn't that why everyone and anybody was originally offered AOL for free? Consequently, to retain customers (per company, respectfully) you can enter the www or not and still gain webpage access from whichever ISP was used. Thereby saving msn/others from losing paying subscribers to AOL and by which time AOL had alot of satisfied users willing to pay monthly rather than switch...a marketing strategy?!?

[carl6969]

Even today a "proper" URL would be something like "http://www.somewebsite.com " possibly followed by "/something" or "/something.html" .

The "http" might be replaced by "https" if the site is on a secure server. "http" is an acronym for HyperText Transfer Protocol which is the standard method or coding for moving files across the Internet. Most modern web browsers "assume" that you are using HTTP when you enter a web address so "www.somewebsite.com" is adequate and works.

The Internet is not owned by anybody. It belongs to the world and no individual, company, organization or government has exclusive rights or control of the Internet. The same applies to the terms HTTP and WWW. AOL is, (and always was), an Internet Service Provider just like thousands of other Internet Service Providers. They are not particularly special or noteworthy for any reason other than their size and popularity. They give away free trials of their service strictly for business reasons in an attempt to increase their number of future paying customers, (an idea which caused them many problems in their early days). It is a timeless business idea. I give you a free sample of my pie in the hope that you will like my pie enough to buy many of my pies in the future.

[normLE]

Tell me, do we know the exact nature of the problems encountered by AOL? I ask because I agree the free pie ploy is a great marketing strategy for prospective client retention...IF there's enough pie. Was lack of pie promised and or delivered that landed him in the difficulties made mention of in a prior post?

[carl6969]

AOL just grew too fast in the beginning. They really had a great plan to attract new customers by offering free trials, (a plan which they continue to use with great success to this day). But in their early days they just did not have the capacity in equipment, personell, software or technical expertise to deal with the overwhelming flood of customers who decided to take advantage of the offer. Another factor was the fact that when AOL started up there was, (unlike today), a very limited number of Internet Service Providers, almost none who could or would offer nationwide service, and I don't think any of them, (except AOL) were offering free trials. It was all irressistable to people with brand new PC's sitting on their desks who wanted to see what all the excitement about the relatively new Internet was all about.

It was, indeed, a matter of promising more "pie" than was available, free or otherwise. But, as we all know, they managed to work out their problems and are now at the top of the Industry for Internet Service Providers.