With all of the media attention that is focused on the Internet and the World Wide Web, figuring out exactly what they are all about is sometimes difficult. Are they just a neat new way to market products or will they truly offer us a new medium of communication that will someChapter surpass even televisions and telephones? The answer is, who knows? Unfortunately, the ultimate use for the Internet is still unknown. This is because it is still in such a state of flux that it's pretty much impossible to accurately predict where it will end up. However, you can look at the evidence of what is there now and gain some insight into what the Internet might become, at least in terms of games.

The Web as most people know it consists of a tangled mess of hypertext documents containing text, images, and sound. For the most part, it has consisted of static information; you can search and browse and generate some things on the fly, but Web content is pretty much fixed, at least from a user's perspective. A wide range of add-ons and extensions have begun to appear that promise interactivity and new types of media. These extensions offer everything from movie clips and CD-quality audio to a hot meal embedded right there in a Web page. OK, maybe I'm exaggerating a little, but you get the idea.

No extension to the Web has generated more excitement than Java, which offers complete interactivity within the traditional Web environment. With Java, you have the ability to create full-featured, interactive applications and embed them in the middle of a Web page. It is probably not a shock to you to hear that Java is the technology touted as bringing the Web, and in turn the Internet, to the masses. Therefore, although the Web is already receiving much attention on its own accord, the Internet landscape is rapidly changing to accommodate the opportunities and benefits of Java.

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