The Network Connection

Every once in a while in a catalog or advertisement, I run across an ad for "the only tool you'll ever need." Perhaps you've seen one too. They are generally pliers type of things that have built-in screwdrivers, files, and rulers, and sometimes even a hammer head too. Now maybe if for some reason I could only own one tool, this would be the one to have, but a tool that does five very different kinds of operations usually doesn't do any one of them well. Give me a nail that needs to be driven, and I'll still choose a real hammer.

With each new release of a World Wide Web browser, I get the feeling that they are trying to sell me "the only Internet tool you'll ever need." My response is that if the only job I have is to look at Web pages, then they may be right. However, I still choose to include several other tools in my Internet toolbox. My reason for doing so is to be sure I've got the most efficient tool for the job I need to get done. My primary savings in using the right tool is time - mostly my time.

My Internet Tool Box

A peek inside my Internet toolbox reveals a Web browser as well as several other key software tools. Since I am primarily a Macintosh user, this discussion will center around applications for that OS, however, Windows alternatives will be offered when applicable. The tasks for which I need tools include Web browsing, file transfer, news reading, E-mail, and remote terminal sessions. Occasionally, I pull out and "dust off" a videoconferencing tool (CU-SeeMe), but, since I don't have a camera on my desk, I don't originate any video sessions. I do rely on more than onetool to be productive in my job, and some of the reasons why are explored below.

Join the Internet, Browse the World...

There's no doubt that the advent and progressive popularity of the World Wide Web (WWW) has changed the Internet. It has certainly allowed the commercialization and popularization to take place. When most casual "netters" say "Internet," nine times out of ten, they mean World Wide Web. Most people don't remember that programs like Netscape and Internet Explorer owe their existence to a program called Mosaic, written at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA). NCSA Mosaic was almost single-handedly responsible for popularizing WWW technologies, because it was the first freely and generally available program which gracefully allowed you to view text, graphics, and other media elements within one application window.

Netscape and Internet Explorer do so many tasks thatit is sometimes hard to remember what they do best. They still are veryvaluable for viewing combined simple media, like text and graphics, andare also useful access points to older Internet technologies, like ftp andgopher. With the advent of plugins, the types of media that are "viewable"continue to increase, including movies, sound clips, midi sequences(especially on a Mac), presentations, and multimedia programs. The bigcaveat here is that the more plugins you throw in the box, the more memorythe application will require.

For example, you can view Macromedia Directorpresentations that have been published on Web pages with a plugin called"Shockwave." Directorpresentations which have been converted to be viewable in this manner aresaid to have been "shocked." For this plugin to work on my Mac, I need toallocate at least 14 megabytes of memory to the Netscape application - thisbrings a new meaning to their term "shocked." There is a limit beyondwhich a capability, while possible, is no longer practical. This is why Idon't believe that Netscape, for example, is the only Internet toolI'll ever need.

File Transfer (Protocol)

While it is possible and many times convenient totransfer files using a Web browser, there are times when you may want touse a "real" ftp client program. I must admit to instinctively using Netscape to accomplish most of my anonymous FTP file transfers, however,there are some specific conditions which make using an alternate programdesirable.

I use Fetch for the Macintosh, but WS_FTP is a similar FTP client for Windows machines. An FTP client program like Fetch or WS_FTPis useful when you need to perform a non-anonymous file transfer. BothNetscape and Internet Explorer will allow you to access a password-protecteddirectory via ftp by using the URL format:ftp://username:password@host.address/path/. The catch is that yourpassword is fully viewable in that URL. Unless you are at home or in youroffice with the door closed and the blinds drawn, there's no way that youraccount security is not being compromised. FTP client programs will allowyou to input a password but will provide an invisible field to do so.

Another reason to use an FTP client is that often itwill accomplish the file transfer in a quicker or more efficient manner. If,for example, you want to FTP a file while working on writing a document ina word processor, Fetch will take up much fewer system resources to do sothan will Netscape. A dedicated program has much less overhead associatewith it and can sometimes accomplish its task faster than a browser can.

The News

Once again, I have to admit to using Netscape toaccess USENET News Groups, but only when an alternate news reader isunavailable. I usually use Newswatcher for Macintosh because it is muchfaster at loading the news messages. WinVN is a similar news reader packagefor 16 and 32-bit Windows systems. Netscape has one advantage in that it ismuch more intelligent about compiling multiple encoded messages into onebinary that, if it's an image, is viewable in the Netscape window. Thisis a limited advantage where news is concerned, unless you are frequentlyviewing certain kinds of pictures. Personally, I prefer Newswatcher's speedat downloading and presenting the messages I need to read.

E-Mail

Internet E-mail is accessible in a number of ways.Most students here at UNT use Pine on the Jove UNIX system to send andreceive mail. A mail client, named Simeon, is also available and moves thework of reading and composing mail to the desktop of your personal computer.Simeon uses an Internet protocol named IMAP to access a "mailbox" on a UNIXhost. The next version of Netscape (4.0) will also support IMAP for access tohost mailboxes. Another such protocol which we do not use at UNT is calledPOP. POP is used frequently by commercial Internet service providers,because it requires that all incoming mail be downloaded off of thecommercial service's server to the client workstation and when the E-mailis first being read. IMAP allows mail to be stored on the server and accessedmultiple times, which means that you can read your mail from a lab or officeon campus, or at home and still see the same set of messages from eachlocation.

Netscape supports POP for E-mail reading, so I can'tuse that here at UNT, but there's a question as to whether I'd want to. I geta lot of Internet mail that I need to organize as it arrives. The rule-basedorganization of mail offered by Simeon and other similar E-mail clientsmakes it much easier for me to keep track of the over 100 messages I get eachday. If I only got two or three E-mail messages a day, then maybe a simplerE-mail client like the capability offered by Netscape would be sufficient.But there are still many other features, like address book organization,MIME E-mail attachments, and group E-mail addresses that are not completelyimplemented in a Web browser's E-mail component. So, give me a real E-mailtool and I'll be happy and productive.

Terminal Tools

I regularly need to access several multi-usercomputers, and the way I do so is to use an Internet-standard terminalemulator like Telnet or TN3270. These are among the first of the Internettools ever developed. Telnet is usually used to access computers running theUNIX operating system. TN3270 is used exclusively to connect to IBM mainframesystems. Several versions of each of these programs are available fordifferent computer systems, and are even included in the "DOS shell" ofWindows 95. In general, computing is moving away from terminal sessions infavor of specialized client software to do the job required. If you arewriting programs on a multi-user computer system, however, then you may needto be logging on to that machine via the Internet and your toolbox willinclude one or both of Telnet or TN3270.

Sum of the parts...

So, there's a peek in my Internet toolbox. Thecontents are sure to change as new software options are available or asold Internet protocols are superseded by newer ones. For example, I'm afraidmy Gopher client is rusting somewhere at the bottom of the box. My shiny newWeb browser handles those Gopher sites just fine (when they haven't beenreplaced by Web sites). This does bring up the larger question, however, ofhow many Internet tools one needs.

For example, I think that Web browsers and E-mailmanagement packages do fundamentally different things, so I don't necessarilyneed them to be in one application. In fact, if they are, that applicationis probably too monolithic (like Microsoft Word is for word processors, forexample). The industry trend is toward small component software which can bemixed to provide the features one needs to be personally productive (OLE andOpenDoc are the competing standards in this regard).

You can buy a tool which combines the functions of apair of pliers, a hammer, and a wrench, but it does none of those functionsreally well. I can read news in Netscape, but NewsWatcher is a faster andmuch more efficient program for reading news, so I'd rather use it, thetool for the job. This is also why I anticipate continued use of Simeon,even if Netscape adds IMAP support. Netscape may work like a hammer, butit will still take a lot more time and effort to pound a nail with it thanwill take with a "real" hammer.

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