How do you answer this question....

My wife's granny, who is 89 and I'm told never touched a computer in her life, asked me today, "young <another of her grandkids> was round the other day and he wanted to know something, so he just went on his mobile phone and straight away he had the answer. How does that work?".

I quickly deciphered that she was referring to the internet.

As a life long geek/techy, immediately my mind filled up with images of electrons shuffling about down wires, and electromagnetic waves flying about by air and optical cable in a pattern of binary encoded in http, tcp ports and interconnected hardware of all shapes and sizes all coming together to make 'The Internet'. I knew that if I had a week without sleeping, I could explain the basics of how it worked. But nobody wants that much detail (except possibly fellow geeks).

So, I told her it was magic, which was half joke, half "I don't mean to sound condascending but you'd never understand if I told you".

So how do you answer that question? In layman's terms, for someone that's never even touched a computer, how do you explain how the internet works?

 

I'd sit down with them, a computer in front of them, to show them what the internet is and the information they can get. How to explain the way it works I'm lost Clueless, sorry!

 

MrH helps as a volunteer at a local computer group which aims to introduce people (mostly those of more mature years) to the use of computers and the Internet. He put together a website which aims to answer, in non technical terms, some of the common questions which people have about the internet http://over50sit.wikispaces.com/Internet Overview. Even so many people have trouble getting their brains around something which they can't see or touch.

The computer group has recently acquired an iPad and a Samsung Galaxy tablet as more and more people are wanting help with tablets they've been given. These are raising new questions about use of the internet and particularly "cloud services" like Dropbox or Google Drive which raise another level of confusion in the minds of people who haven't grown up using computers.

As Sheal says, sitting down with someone, showing them what you can do on the internet and giving them the confidence to have a go themselves is the best way to teach them. Most people don't need or want to know all the techie stuff that is required in order to make it all work. Personally I suspect the average teenager who seems to know the internet inside out, hasn't got a clue about how it works but that doesn't stop them letting it rule their life.

 

I tell my mum its like looking in a library and finding the book you want , and she said "now I understand a little more"

Spruce

 

A computer is like a box of books, there are lots of them and if yours hasn't got the book you need, it can connect to all the other boxes till it finds the right one.

Only it does it very very quickly.

 

That ones a nice simple matter an electron deficit at one end (positive charge) and electron surplus at the other (negative charge) and electromagnetic forces cause electrons to jump from one atom to the next to try to balance out, and as they do so, they excite the atoms causing disturbed electrons to release waves called photons, which then radiate out and hit other atoms, discharging energy into them which in turn excites those atoms causing more photons of varying quantity and frequency to be released, some of which hit our eyes exciting atoms in our retinas, causing a tiny electrical charge then fuels various chemical reactions giving us the perception of sight. See, simple

 

It's like visiting a retail park or town centre where you not only have a library but also a range of department stores, multiplex cinemas, newsagents and social clubs (like Gardeners Corner).

Search engines eg Google, Bing, are like a City Centre guide which will help you to find what you want if you don't know the address, but which will also try to steer you to specific places by advertising.

 

Good one @Scrungee

 

I'd be tempted to use an analogy of a very clever and fast telephone operator at the exchange (as was 50 or more years ago).
You call her/it up with your computer/phone and ask a question. She/it uses her/it computer to phone all her lines and asks the same question and then looks at all the answers and picks the best one or two from the thousands of replies and tells you the answer.

 

But you can't half feel it !!!!