U sers & Providers 



BEGINNER' S 



GUIDE 



TO THE 



INTERNET 



David Brock 



This is the first of three articles 

 about the Internet and how it all works 

 for people in the Green Industry. The 

 second article, in the August /September 

 issue, will look at the information 

 available and how one could go about 

 finding and utilizing it in a time- 

 and cost-effective way. 



INTRODUCTION 

 In 1991, almost a century after the 

 United States converted from an agri- 

 cultural economy to an industrial one, 

 US industry purchased more commu- 

 nications and computer equipment 

 than industrial goods, signaling the 

 movement from an industrial to an in- 

 formational economy. At the heart of 

 this movement is the Internet and the 

 World Wide Web (WWW) With an es- 

 timated forty million persons from al- 

 most two hundred countries regularly 

 connecting to and using this network, 

 it is becoming a vital tool for conduct- 

 ing business, interacting, and staying 

 informed. And the horticultural com- 

 munity from New Hampshire and Cali- 

 fornia to lapan and England is not im- 

 mune to this technological progress. 



In horticulture, virtually all universi- 

 ties who train and educate the next 

 generation of growers, nurserymen, 

 hardgoods manufacturers, distributors, 

 and brokers, as well as consumers of 

 our industry's bounty, are connected 

 to this information superhighway. 

 Most of the Cooperative Extension is 

 connected to the Internet The USDA 

 and EPA are on-line. And a burgeon- 

 ing number of companies who con- 

 duct the commerce in our industry are 

 connecting, offering extensive details 



about their soilless mixes, insecticide MSDS and labels, 

 cell-pack availability, and other information previously 

 available only through catalogs or phone. The econom- 

 ics of electronic mail (email, the biggest use for the 

 Internet today) are clear — it is efficient; it reduces paper 

 and postage costs The economics of publishing material 

 in digital form on the Internet once, for all to see, 24 

 hours a day, seven days a week, are also clear and are 

 the driving force behind this technological revolution. 

 And the economics of connecting to 

 this network, whether from home or 

 work, are equally compelling. 



TABLE ONE 



ON-LINE SERVICES 

 America On-Line: 1-800-827-6364 

 CompuServe: 1-800-848-8199 

 Delphi: 1-800-695-4005 

 Prodigy : 1-800-776-3449 



INTERNET ACCESS 



PROVIDERS 



(Ail 603 area codes unless 



otherwise indicated) 



Blue Fin: 433-2223 



Cyberport: 542-5833 



Grolen: 645-0101 



Interactive Micro: 938-2127 



Mainstream: 424-1497 



MonadNet 352-7619 



MV 429-2223 



Netcom: 1-800-353-6600 



NETIC: 437-1811 



North Country: 752-1250 



RocketScience: 334-6444 



INTERNET SOFTWARE 

 BROWSERS 

 Netscape Navigator 

 Microsoft Explorer 

 IBM OS/2 Warp 

 Quarterdeck 



THE TWO SIDES OF THE 

 INTERNET 

 The Internet can be thought of as 

 having two halves: (1.) the users — who 

 use email, have on-line discussions 

 regarding the presidential candidates 

 or the use of herbs in cooking and 

 consume information, goods, and ser- 

 vices and (2.) the providers of these 

 forums and information. 



Users connect from their home 

 or office using a computer, modem, 

 and software (called an Internet 

 browser) which allows them to "look 

 at" the content being provided on the 

 Internet on their computer screen. 

 Content providers, generally called 

 Internet Service Providers (ISPs), de- 

 sign software that presents informa- 

 tion to users in a logical, graphical, 

 and familiar way. When this content is 

 published digitally on the Internet, 

 many simultaneous users can view it, 

 react to it, or download it to their 

 own computers. Similar to the televi- 

 sion, which offers graphical "content" 

 on different channels, and similar to 

 the telephone, which connects you to 

 the number dialed, the Internet lies 



IDNE >|ULV 1996 



15 



