DEAR WALDMANS: My wife and I own and manage a successful self-storage facility.We hear a lot of people talking about the Internet, and it seems to be a very popular itemon television and in the newspapers. We can't seem to get away from it. Are we missing outon something important? We hate feeling ignorant, so we wondered if you could explain what"http," "home page" and "e-mail" mean? Please help usunderstand what all this commotion is about. Should we be investing in a computer, eventhough we are doing an excellent business without it? Also, like a lot of people from ourgeneration, we are not computer literate. Are we too old to learn? Maybe you can shed somelight on what all this is about.

--Reader In Maryland

Dear Reader: You are certainly not alone. There is so much informationconcerning the Internet, e-mail and home-page addresses all over the media; it seems thateveryone wants a piece of the action. Don't worry, though, there are many people that arejust like you. There is so much to learn and the technology changes constantly. If youwere to purchase a computer today, it could be out of date before you took it home and setit up. Not that it wouldn't be a good computer, but changes are being made so rapidly. So,make sure you get the latest technology at the time you purchase the computer.

The next step is to hook up to and explore the Internet, defined as an internationalnetwork of computers linked by certain rules and guidelines. To do so, you must first findan Internet service provider (ISP), which will likely charge a monthly fee--not unlikethat of a phone company--allowing you access to the Internet. Once you go online, you'llprobably want to explore the most popular aspects of the Internet, such as the World WideWeb, also known as "WWW" and "the Web." A lot of businesses areinvesting in Web sites, where potential clients my go to read about the company's productsand/or services. Try to find some of the Internet "home pages" for self-storagefacilities. You'll probably be surprised by what you see.

Some novices call every page on the Web a "home page," which is really notcorrect. The term "home" refers to the first page, or screen, of the site. Pagesother than a home page should probably be referred to simply as "pages," whilethe grouping of pages is typically referred to as a Web site.

Then there's the thing called e-mail, more formally known as "electronicmail." E-mail is a great way to communicate with people all over the world withoutincurring long-distance charges. Your ISP will provide you with your own e-mail address,which is your ticket to this new form of correspondence. Several businesses post an e-mailaddress on their home page in order to receive requests concerning their products orservices. It's an inexpensive way to advertise. HTTP (hypertext transfer protocol) is thesystem that allows people to view Web pages on the Internet. Without it, documents wouldbe illegible.

Sounds pretty complicated, doesn't it? After a few lessons, and mainly hands-onexperience, you will find the Internet to be fun and challenging. Whether you use it forpleasure or business, it will be an entertainment like nothing you have seen before. Tryit. You just might like what you see. If you don't, you will never know what all thatcommotion is really about.