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I think the internet asa thing, a tool. You use the internet to do what you need to do. If i have to find something i use the internet to find it.

The internet as being a thing, mean you can always use it but it as a place means it will fill up one day.

Calling the internet a place is also wierd because the internet is alomst every where now, so this place would be huge, calling it a thing or a tool I feel is more apporite.

-Chris Gibson

I think of the Internet as what it is, one giant network. It is unlike anything else we use. It would be hard to think of it as a thing or a place because that would give it a definition, and therefore parameters. The Internet has endless number of tasks it can accomplish such as FTP, HTML, SMTP, Telnet, etc. and it has many more to come I am sure. Basically, the internet is what we have the funds and knowledge to make it become. Maybe that didn't make much sense, but hey it's late. Just my thoughts.

I think the internet is a thing. A tool to bridge all gaps in the computer networks of the world. To say it is a place would not make much sense because it is all over the place there is no one definate location where it is. To call it a place would be saying it has limits to were it can go which is not true because it has the power and potential to go anyplace it wishes to go.

I think of the internet as a thing ... and it doesnt have any boundaries. When i use and think about the internet, it seems endless. You can find and aquire anything through the internet. It dont however, view it as a place, because when i think of a place, i think of somewhere i could go ... and i cant seem to go "to" the internet. Anyways, just my .02

I think it's a tool as well. However some tools are better than others and it's up to the user to decide how good the tool really is.

So, if it's a thing, or a tool, why do we so often use the language of places when talking about it?

"I'm going to this site."

"What's the location of that site/page?"

I think of the internet as a massive, virtual city. There are a ton of resources available for public (and private) use, and many different things to do on the internet. You can do research, go shopping, obtain information about a company, communicate with other people, join organizations/groups, or start your own place on the net and make yourself available to the public. Much like a city, there is quite an expansive and varied array of resources at your fingertips.

A place does not necessarily have to have limits or boundaries. Think of outer space, that is a place that has no limits or boundaries. I view the internet as a place. How do we gain access to outer space? A space ship. How do we gain access to the internet? Through computers, cell phones, whatever else. We have to use something to get to the internet. We say we "go to a web site" to find information, log on to our e-mail account to talk to people, or download games - all forms of research, communication, and entertainment. We go to the music store to buy cd's, the library to find information, phones are used to talk to our friends. I see it as a place that houses many functions. Being "a place", the internet starts to break down when you cannot access it. Your computer is broken so you cannot use the functions of the net. The library is closed, so you cannot get your resources. But one can also say that the internet is a tool. We USE the internet to find stuff, use it talk to people and so on. This question can be approaced from so many angles, I like it, it's a good question.

I view the Internet as an endless SPACE not a place to which there is an endless "network" or capacity to exchange ideas through a medium that is virtually boundless. It is a space in the sense that it does not reside in one specific place but rather on a common space that everyone has the ability to access and interact with. To comment on the longevity of the metaphor, I comment that there is not limit to the space as we know it and the same applies to the Internet. Anyone can enter the space at any point, but the idea of boundaries or permission for some content creates a flaw in the space idea. This space consists of endless resources and a bounty of communication in a world where communication is the most important thing that humans can posses. In this day and age, communication comes in new forms, but the fundamentals still remain the same as the origins. Each person strives to communicate his or her ideas to another in order to assure an interaction. To comment on the discussion, would you compare the internet to the idea of the postal system some 100 years ago...[food for though from New Jersey]

I think of the internet as a thing and a place. In terms of it being a thing, i think of it as a tool that allows you to do anything and everything. In terms of a place, It exists in a network of computers, where people can meet, trade, buy and sell, and share information with each other.

The internet is more than just a "thing" or a "place." It is beyond any word. The internet can connect you with almost any person with a computer. You can send files within seconds across the world.

I think the Internet, even though it is intangible and just an enormous network, is a "thing." The only tangible part of it is the infrastructure, but that is a major portion of it. Without the lines and servers and routers and everything else required to keep the Internet up, it wouldn't exist. Thus, this required framework can be lumped together with the intangible network.

The reason it is commonly referred to as if it were a place is that that's just the common way of describing it. People "go to" web sites (although really the site is coming to them). The correct terms, such as "direct your browser to ..." seem a little awkward. People do the same thing with television ("Go to channel...") asnd it has just become acceptable.

I view the internet as a place. The internet is a tool that can be used by anyone in a similar way as a library. The information is out there waiting to be found in aphysical location, but it takes someone who knows how to find the information for you (i.e. search engines.)

The internet does however have private areas not accessable to the general public. This is incontradiction to it being a public tool, but I suppose people need to make money somehow.

-Andy

I dont think the internet is a thing or a place.The internet is something that is just there. It is not a place because you do not have to go to a certain spot to use it. You can use it at home, school even in the bathroom(as long as you have a laptop) if you wanted.I do not think it is a thing because you can not physically touch it or see it because it is all around the world. I really do not think there is a word to describe what it is.

After looking at some of the other discussion posts, I've seen some very good points that were made and also better shaped my opinion of what the internet itself is. I feel that it is a thing rather than a place, and this is because it is a means for an individual to play, share, and communicate over a network with other people; simply put, it has a use (or many uses). A direct comparison can be made between the internet and a phone to help convey this idea that the internet has a purpose since both are things that utilize its respective network to perform a task, which is why I do not feel like it is a place. If one said "I am going to the supermarket." I would argue that a supermarket is not a place but a thing that provides goods and services, much like the internet. However, the language used regarding the internet may be the reason why some people feel like it is a place by using words like "going," "site," "address," and "location." And perhaps because images and photographs are used frequently on websites, people feel as if they are visiting the places which they see. Like T.J. said, this terminology has "just become acceptable."

I think of the internet as a community sharing thouhgts and factual information about world. I think of it as a community without bias. You can communicate with individuals and deliver important information quickly. I think of the internet as a family of individuals hopefully with good intent to communicate information in order to progress society as a whole. The internet breaks down when people misuse its general purpose for existing. Such as to break the law.

I think of the internet as a thing to assist you in achieving a goal. The internet does bring people together but it is not a place.