The children's question: How does the Internet work?

The children's question: How does the Internet work? We want to know from children which questions are on their mind We answer one every week

This question comes from Mala, 6 years old Photo: Stuart Kinlough/Ikon Images/imago Dear Mala, When I was a child, I used to ask myself how the internet works

Many adults have tried to explain it to me, including my computer science teacher Back then I always nodded as if I understood everything and now I really regret it

Because until recently I still didn't know how the internet worked Your question encouraged me to look into it again

To begin, let's establish what the Internet looks like For example, when your mother wants to send her friends a picture, she goes on the internet

But what if what if she didn't have internet? Your mother and her friends would then have to put their computers side by side and connect them with a cable, thus exchanging things stored on them You can also imagine the Internet as such a computer network

All over the world there are many special computers, they look like big metal cabinets and are connected to each other by cables The cables even stretch across the ocean to keep people around the world connected

This global association of computers is called the Internet But how can you send a picture or watch videos about it? Have you ever used code language with your girlfriends so no one else can understand what you're discussing? Computers also speak a code language, that most people don't understand

In contrast to German, this language does not consist of words, but of digits So for computers, the picture your mother wants to send is a long string of digits, a code

The computer sends this code to the Internet This happens via a cable

You can also send the picture via a mobile phone However, cell phones are not connected to the Internet via cables

They send the code through the air, via radio waves We humans cannot see these waves

In our example, your mother sent an image in the form of a code to the Internet (that network of huge closet computers) The Internet forwards this code to her friend's cell phone, and it translates it back in the form of the picture - so her friend can see it

And it all happens incredibly fast! Do you also have a question? Then write to us at kinderfragen@taz de

Computers also speak a code language, that most people don't understand In contrast to German, this language does not consist of words, but of digits So for computers, the picture your mother wants to send is a long string of digits, a code The computer sends this code to the Internet This happens via a cable You can also send the picture via a mobile phone However, cell phones are not connected to the Internet via cables They send the code through the air, via radio waves We humans cannot see these waves In our example, your mother sent an image in the form of a code to the Internet (that network of huge closet computers) The Internet forwards this code to her friend's cell phone, and it translates it back in the form of the picture - so her friend can see it And it all happens incredibly fast!