July 2001
Computing for the Bewildered. By Bill Hayles
Hello again.
Thanks to those of you who have sent questions and suggestions for this column. The subject that seems to be on your mind is The Internet, and the costs, both obvious and hidden, of doing so.
You don't need to buy your own computer just to try out The Internet, or send the odd e-mail. I'm old enough to remember a time when most people didn't have their own telephone, and either used a telephone box or some other form of public facility (remember those signs "You may telephone from here"?). In Spain, there were, and still are "telephone shops", where you can make a call. These are catching up with the times, and, in order to survive, are installing computers where, for a fee of maybe 1000 pesetas an hour, you can surf the net, or send and receive your e-mails. These are in addition to the so-called "Internet Cafes", where the coffee is just a sideline to the main business - rows of computers all connected and ready to surf. If you have never used a computer before, don't worry. If you call at a quiet time, the person in charge will be only too happy to show you what to do, and to set up an e-mail address for you. The reason they're so obliging is not just philanthropy - they want your money, and if they can get you interested, they have another "regular". You will want to call in every few days to check your e-mail.
There are an ever increasing number of public Internet facilities in Javea and the surrounding area. For instance, there's one behind the Mercadona in the town. There's another almost next door to The Oasis centre, and the video rental shop in Javea Park is shortly to start offering Internet. As for the costs, many work on a coin-in-the-slot basis, usually 100 pesetas for 6 minutes. With others, you pay for a set time on line. Either way, for the occasional user, it is a cost-effective way to dip your toes into Internet waters. Don't worry. They're not shark-infested, despite what you may have heard.
That brings me on to my second topic. E-mail. What is it, and how does it work?
An e-mail is a private letter, sent electronically. You will have an e-mail address (somebody@somewhere.com), and so will the person you're sending the e-mail to (my.relative@theirisp.com). You will type in the address of the recipient, then type your message and tell the computer to "send". Within minutes, your message will be in the recipient's "mail box". The next time they collect their mail, it will be waiting for them. Replying is even easier. All e-mail software recognises the sender of an e-mail, so just telling it to "reply" will be enough - it knows who to send it to. If you and your far away relatives both have e-mail, it is a very quick and very easy way to keep in touch. Both quicker and cheaper than a letter, and much cheaper than a long distance phone call.
So, bringing the two of these together, how can you have an e-mail account if you don't have your own computer? (If you have a home computer, and use software such as Outlook Express, this works differently from the system I'm about to describe, so don't get the two confused!)
There are many e-mail services which work from the World Wide Web, which is what most of you probably think of as "The Internet". From the computer in your chosen public facility (or anywhere else, come to that), you "log on" to the web page of your service provider. Many Internet Cafe proprietors have a favourite service, and will help you with the initial sign-up to it. As a beginner, you are probably best off accepting the assistance offered. You will be given an e-mail address which is public, and a user name and password, which are private, so that only you can access your own e-mail! The services, such as Yahoo and Hotmail are free. They make their money by advertising.
Once your account is set up, and you have sent your initial e-mails, hopefully replies will start coming in. The next time you visit, you can log on to your e-mail account with your user name and password, read the e-mails which have been waiting in your mail box and, if you wish, reply or send completely new ones. How often you check your mail is up to you, but once you start using e-mail, you'll wonder how you ever managed without it, and it will be "just popping out to check my e-mail, dear", every day.
OK, that's enough for this month. If you have a question you'd like me to answer in the column, please e-mail it to questions@billnot.com, maybe from an Internet Cafe using your new account. If you don't have e-mail, you can always leave your question at the CopiShop. However, I can't guarantee to answer questions personally.
Finally, if you want to keep in touch with the news on my Saturday classes, which restart on September 15th, ask the kind man in the Internet Cafe how to surf to my web site at http://www.billnot.com.
If you have been, thanks for reading this.