The Internet, by contrast, allows many computers to access many other computers concurrently. Once you have an account on any machine connected to the net you can make remote use of any other machine connected to the net, anywhere in the world. You might remotely access the catalog of of the City University of New York library, the White Sands Missile Range library of computer software, or a repository of pending legislation. There are thousands of databases and information repositories on the net, most of them free, in addition to thousands of topical discussion groups, some of which include top experts. Already connecting up to 15 million users in more than forty countries, the Internet is growing by 15 percent a month, and has been for a number of years.
Internet does have a down side.
It's not user friendly. For one thing there is no real index or user's manual. These newsgroups are what give the Internet its sense of community. They are where the community goes to work and play, and they're where you will find most of the experts you'll want to interview. Specific newsgroups include topics such as computer-assisted research and reporting, the space shuttle, AIDS and various areas of medicine, as well as groups tied to newsevents, such as the presidential campaign.