The Internet is NOT the World Wide Web
So many times people have told me their “internet isn’t working,” yet I find their email programs and web browsers working, only perhaps that Internet Explorer is broken. I just realized this morning: Windows XP calls the default web browser “Internet” in the start menu. Microsoft really did a number on people’s perceptions all these years.
Folks, the “Internet” as you know it is called the World Wide Web: you know that “www” before almost every website? There is so much more to the Internet than the web. Email, FTP, chat/IM, all that stuff is still on the Internet but they’re not all HTML: the language web browsers like Internet Explorer speak.
So the next time you say “the Internet is broken,” which by the way isn’t really possible nowadays, please consider the actual problem and help you to help yourself: perhaps your web browser isn’t working. Or just describe the symptom: “I can’t get Internet Explorer to work.” It’s communication like this that will help us get you the assistance you need quicker and more efficiently. Who knows, the browsing experience you save could be your own.