Open Communication

摘要

When you remember that a network is just a system of interconnections that link people or things together, it seems as though almost everything in our lives is networked. Isn't our system of roads and highways just a huge network that links towns and cities together? And what about our electrical power distribution system? It uses high power lines to connect homes, offices, and factories to power plants, and one power grid to another. The telephone system is a humongous network. The cable TV system is a big fat network. Of course, we have come to associate the word network with computers. Today, what computer is not networked? If it is not connected to the Internet via a dial-up, broadband cable, or DSL modem, it is connected to a local area network (LAN), which, in turn, is connected to one or more other networks. And, LANs are not restricted to offices — they are also in many homes.