"It masks the complexities of the underlying protocols, removing the need for users to know the difference between ftp, HTTP, gopher, and WAIS, for example," he says. "All the user has to know how to do is click."

Hekman agrees. "There can be links in one place to a lot of different places so that you don't have to have a large site saving a whole lot of information," she says. "You can just have pointers--it's just a big index pulling things together."

This indexing of information is really the essence of the Web, students say.

"The reason it has become so popular is it is the first easy to use program for finding info on the Internet," Tarr says. "All the Web really is is a pretty-looking ftp front end program." The term "ftp," which stands for file transfer protocol, is a way to access and download information that is available on the Internet. The front end program provides the graphic interface of the Web.

"I think it attracts students because it combines graphics and sounds in addition to text," Tarr says.

How It Works

One of the foundations of the Web protocol is the notion of hypertext. Hypertext was originally popularized by Apple Computer in the mid-1980's through their HyperCard application for the Macintosh.

Hypertext, in its barest form, is text with certain key words highlighted. The user can access a "link" to get further information about any highlighted key word simply by clicking on it.

For example, in a hypertext discussion about chickwich consumption at Harvard, clicking on the word chickwich would bring up more information about chickwiches, perhaps a definition of the term.

The Web's implementation of hypertext brings into play two other fundamental aspects of the Web, namely, its "multimedia" and "resource location" conventions.

Information on the Web, often organized into hypertext "pages," ordinarily includes not just textual but also graphical and even aural data. That is, users of the Web expect to encounter graphics to punctuate the text at every turn. If the saying "a picture is worth a thousand words" is true, then graphics are vital to reduce information overload on-line.

Sound is another important component. Often, a Web hypertext "page" will include links to sound data. For example, the White House Web site (http://www.whitehouse.gov) includes a now-famous link between a picture of Socks the cat and a sound of Socks meowing.

Similarly, if a user were to click on the hypertext word "chickwich," the computer might bring up a picture of a chickwich or perhaps the sound of a Harvard student saying "Mmm...good!"

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Kim says "one of the great things about the Web is that where the pages are located is essentially meaningless to the user."