ABSTRACT
The Internet and The World Wide Web (WWW, or the Web) reduced distance by letting computers of different organizations communicate with one another across a global, standards-based network. Without the Internet, less efficient, often proprietary, communications solutions were used, requiring custom configuration and development delays. The Internet itself had the potential to reduce some of these distances many years ago, but did so only in limited contexts. For example, although researchers could easily send e-mail, the average person did not use it. There was still a distance between what the general public wanted in communication — namely ease of use and low cost — and what the Internet provided.
