The World Wide Web has become a crucial element to my everyday life. It is very unlikely that I go throughout a day without using this system. I feel as though I become more skilled with navigating my way around the web the more I use it, but there are still many things that I do not understand. Before reading this article, I did not know what http, html, or url stood for or their importance in navigating through the WWW. One reading explained that http or hypertext transfer protocol was the users way to retrieve documents from servers. I guess this is why most URL’s begin with his acronym. I learned that html or hypertext markup language is what allows websites to have color, animation, and have a link through the use of tags. A URL or uniform resource locator was something that I did understand. It is the actual internet address for a web document. These Acronyms are the most crucial elements of the WWW. They are what allow documents to be published and viewed on the internet, but it is the one thing about the internet that I had no clue about. Now that I have an understanding of how web pages are displayed and information is made available to me it makes more sense how I am able to locate these various webpages and documents.
One particular part of the reading that surprised me was when I was reading about basic browser functions. The reading began by listing off the buttons that allow you to navigate through the web. I started reading these and I was able to say that I had used and understood all of these buttons except for one. I have never used or heard of The Go menu. The Go menu would actually be very benificial to use because it pulls up a list of all your previous viewed websites and then you just have to click on the one that you want to go back to. This saves you from clicking the back button numerous times which is what I find myself doing a lot.
What I have learned from these readings will impact my work now and in the future in that I am now more knowledgeable of how the World Wide Web is structured. I now know what times are best to search the internet and why certain web pages are unavailable at times. Having knowledge of these issues saves me from getting frustrated when the computer is running slow or I can’t display a webpage I want. These readings helped me to understand that you must be persistent when trying to obtain information from the web. Instead of giving up on the first try I need to be persistent or try to obtain the information another time. Now that I have more knowledge of the web I will be more confident when using it to complete work or use it for fun.