A net loss?

WITH 20,000 internet cafes in 171 countries and 53 per cent of adults having access at home, it would be fair to say that the internet is now a major part of life in the 21st century.

We can't imagine a time when we didn't turn to our computers for research, to send messages to friends, to pay bills and even to book holidays.

But as little as ten years ago, very few of us even knew what the internet was.

Once the first internet caf - Caf Cyberia in London's West End - was launched, however, the facility was gradually integrated into our everyday lives and now the majority of us cannot envisage ever being without it.

Websites such as lastminute.com - where last-minute deals on things like hotel rooms and theatre tickets can be found - have become increasingly familiar and the BT's online directory enquiries page is just as efficient, if not more so, than thumbing through the phonebook.

By visiting a single website - such as Tesco - we can now buy food, music, books and clothes, sort out car, home and travel insurance, rent DVDs and even find out about cheaper internet access.

Much simpler than putting in several different phone calls or traipsing round the high street - a fact proved by the 120,000 orders the site handles every week in the UK.

Ron Burns, course leader of the BSc Honours Psychology and Computing course at Bournemouth University, said the biggest way the internet had changed our lives was through increased connections.

"It's opened up the potential for connecting with people that wasn't there and at a speed which wasn't possible before," he said.

But he added that that accessibility had made issues such as stalking, pornography and paedophilia more of a problem.

"It's made everything easier and speeded it up. There's always been a danger of stalking and paedophilia, but what's happened is that it's amplified by the speed and it's all now much more easily accessible from home."

Education has also been affected by the information overload the internet provides, with students now being taught not where to look for research, but how to judge the reliability of that information.

But all this is just the tip of the iceberg, according to Ron.

"Although there have been tremendous changes there's a lot more to come," he said. "We're just seeing the start of it. If you think 20 years ahead, there are going to be huge changes."

One of the areas which has been dramatically advanced during the last ten years thanks to the internet is the tracing of family and old friends.

The launch of the hugely popular website Friends Reunited meant that school pals, former colleagues, neighbours and even old football buddies were literally at the ends of our fingertips.

Of course there has been some criticism of the site, with teachers complaining about less-than-flattering messages being left about them on the site's noticeboard, but Friends Reunited has generally been hailed a success.

It now boasts more than ten million registered members, 16.5 million names listed under schools, 2.4 million people listed in workplaces, 200,000 names in teams and clubs, 90,000 people in Armed Forces and 250,000 names listed under streets.

In 2002 former students and staff of Broadstone Middle School in Poole met for the first time in 26 years thanks to the site.

Ex-pupil Sharon Earle logged on to see if any of her old friends were registered and made contact with former classmate Wade Allsopp. The pair spent seven months tracking down former students and were electronically reunited with 100 pals who met up at a big reunion party.

Chatrooms have allowed people to make new friends over the internet and, while there is always the danger that members are not entirely honest about who they really are, there have been some happy stories.

PC Barry Butler, from north Dorset, has jetted off to Russia to marry a doctor he met on the internet.

Barry, who is retiring after almost 30 years of service, is shunning a more conventional life weeding the allotment to tie the knot with Mila, also reaching retirement age, who he met online. He is now happily married after finding his new love.

There are also major downfalls in the rise of the internet - one of which is the related rise in child pornography.

Figures released by BT recently showed more than 20,000 attempts to access child pornography websites were made every day.

And in the first three weeks after the company introduced its Clean Feed system, which blocks people from accessing illegal images, a terrifying 250,000 attempts were made to view such pages.

Insp Derrick Lillywhite, from Poole Police, stressed crimes involving child pornography were always high on the agenda.

He added: "Child pornography is an abhorrent crime which is totally condemned.

"The police will always investigate allegations of such crimes when they are passed to us and we would welcome any information from any sources on those engaged in such criminal activity."

Bournemouth safety centre Streetwise is launching a simulated website, Chatwise, in a bid to educate children about the dangers which have crept into the internet in the last decade.

Manager Alison Curtis said: "The wrong kinds of people have been more aware of the potential of the internet.

"There are dangers, but if you stop people doing something because there might be a problem they won't do anything.

"We have to educate them of the dangers and hope that they have enough information to make the right choice."

Never reveal personal details about yourself - including your real name, address and phone number, and remember not all information on the internet is reliable.

If you're thinking of meeting someone you met online, be aware they may not be who they say they are.

Alison added: "Having a seven-year-old who likes playing on the computer I have the dilemma as a parent as to whether or not I let my child surf without me in the room, and I don't.

"Have your child in a communal room, make sure you can see what they're doing and take an interest. Parents have to get interested, because computers are the future."

To find out more about internet safety visit www.kidsmart.org.uk and www.chatdanger.com.

WHILE the majority of us now take the internet pretty much for granted, there is a part of the population that does not even know what the word "website" means.

Children are now going through school with computer studies a compulsory part of the national curriculum, but for those who left school long before computers became a necessary part of life, it is a very different story.

The latest figures released by office of communication Ofcom in April this year, showed that 64 per cent of adults had a PC at home with 53 per cent having internet access at home. In addition, 63 per cent of small businesses had internet access.

But for people over the age of 50 the web can be a very frightening place.

Steve Collins, information manager at Age Concern, Bournemouth, has been running computer courses for people over the age of 50 for the last three years.

"There's an assumption that everyone can log onto the internet," he said.

"It's very wrong to think that older people can just order their food online if they're isolated at home.

"But the problem is that when you're looking at older people, they weren't brought up with computers. When you say to somebody 'just click onto this icon', it doesn't mean anything to them." Older people also sometimes have problems with their hand-eye co-ordination due to arthritis and poor eyesight, but increasingly those over 50 are finding out about a whole new world after logging on.

"We find a lot of older people have retired down south and have a family living in other parts of the country," said Steve.

"They're very isolated, especially if their partner has died. But with the technology that we've got they can be talking to people in Australia and America and see pictures of their grandchildren."

Sue Freeman, 65, of Kinson Road, Bournemouth, became a "silver surfer" after her daughter helped her to set up the internet at home."I mainly use email to contact my friends and family, but I do go onto the internet for research and things.

"When I first started I was a bit frightened of it, but the more you use it the more you get used to it. I would definitely miss if it I didn't have it."

Age Concern have produced two guides on using the internet for people over 50 called Silver Surfer and Getting to Know Your Computer. Call Steve Collins at Age Concern Bournemouth on 01202 530530.