Chapter 1: Getting on the Internet
In This Chapter
Selecting an Internet service provider
Understanding how your Mac gets on the Internet
Setting up your Internet connection
I’ll be honest — the Internet is a terribly complex monster of a network. If you tried to fathom all the data that’s exchanged on the Internet and everything that takes place when you check your e-mail for Aunty Joan’s fruitcake recipe, your brain would probably melt like a chocolate bar in the Sahara Desert. A shoebox full of archaic things is tucked under the Internet: communications protocols, routing addresses, packets, servers, and other hoo-hah that are beyond the grasp of just about everyone on the planet.
Luckily for regular folks like you and me, OS X Mountain Lion closes the trapdoor on all these details, keeping them hidden (as they should be). You don’t have to worry about them, and the obscure information that you need to establish an Internet connection is kept to a minimum. In fact, the happiest computer owners I’ve met think that the Internet is a little blinking light on their DSL or cable modem: If the light blinks in the proper manner, all is well. (I don’t argue with them.)
In this chapter, ...
