Advertisements for the
Internet promise you a world of information, entertainment, on-line shopping
and e-mail services. However, the real world of the Internet may not be as
perfect as the advertisements suggest.
Using the Internet offers many
advantages. For example, all of the
latest information is available to you, in your home, at any hour of the day or
night. It is much faster and easier to surf the net in search of information
from all over the world than to travel to libraries in dozens of countries.
Also, on-line shopping makes it possible to search through catalogues to find
exactly what you want at the best price, saving both time and money. By joining
a newsgroup or chat group, you can share your hobbies and special interests,
and perhaps make friends all over the world. Finally, e-mail is popular because
it is faster than sending a letter and cheaper than a telephone conversation.
On the other hand, the
Internet has several disadvantages. Firstly,
with so much information available, finding what you want can take you hours.
Multimedia web pages with photographs, music and video are attractive, but they
make downloading slow and boring. What is more, there is too much advertising
instead of real information. As for Internet friendships, sitting at home in
front of a computer making 'chat friends' is not the same as actually meeting
people.
In conclusion, the Internet
obviously has both good and bad points. Fortunately, the system is improving
all the time, and any problems which still exist can be solved. Whether we like
it or not, the Internet is here to stay, so we have to make the best possible
use of it.
|
