The Internet

ELI5 - What is the internet and who owns and operates it?

Imagine you have a special toy RC car that carries a message to your friend's house, but they live far away. To get there, the car goes down your driveway, then rides on the town's road, hops on a ferry boat across a river, and maybe even takes a mini plane to reach a faraway place. The internet works similarly, but instead of roads and boats between houses, the RC car rides on special cables between computers.

Now, the infrastructure in this city is organized in different levels. There are a few big companies that make the main roads, bridges, and airports. They make sure everything connects well for the RC car to move smoothly. These are like the big companies on the internet.

Then, there are smaller companies that make the smaller roads, like the streets in your neighborhood. They get permission from the big companies to make these smaller roads. These smaller companies are like Internet Service Providers (ISPs), which allow our RC cars to ride smoothly.

Finally, at the very end, there's you! When you want to send a message or visit a website, you're like someone sending out the toy RC car on all these roads, boats, and planes to deliver your message to your friend's house.

By Alex 1 year ago