The communication protocols that bind the Internet together synthesize a global computer out of a large collection of processors and networks.
Every program is based on an underlying model of computation.
Traditionally, we have used sequential, functional, relational, concurrent, and distributed models. Traditional models of data and computation have been successfully imposed onto the Internet. For example, Telnet reduces the Internet to a multiprocessor, while FTP reduces it to a file system. Noticeably, all these models are based on a reasonable degree of reliability of the underlying computing infrastructure. A common experience exemplifies this point.