If the Internet were a person, it would be diagnosed with a multiple personality disorder and immediately placed in counseling.

It is a bundle of contradictions, yet it is because of those contradictions that the Internet is probably the only service of its kind that can successfully be all things to all people.

While the Internet has been around for more than four decades, it is only in the last 16 years that the Net everyone is familiar with has existed.

In 1993, the first graphic-based browser was released and the digital world exploded in size, scope and complexity.

The Internet seems to be everywhere these days, and we're still trying to figure out whether that's a good or bad thing.

We all talk about the Internet in general - we joke about it; curse it when it's slow or when we can't seem to find what we want online; sing its praises when we find cool Web sites; philosophize about it.

Yet, few of us can discuss the specifics about how the Internet works or how everyone really connects to everyone else.

There's a zen quality to the Internet: The more I say I understand it, the less I really know about it.

The Internet can't be weighed, yet it weighs heavily in our daily affairs, from financial transactions to water cooler discussions; from news to entertainment; from communications services to shopping, travel and political decisions.

The Internet touches us all with words, sights and sounds, yet we can't physically touch it, see it or hear it.

I've spent the last 15 years working in the online world and about the only thing I can say with certainty about this digital communications and information medium is that it is both useful and useless.

The Internet is an ocean of quantity but a stream of quality.

Never before in history have we had so much access to so much information thanks to the Internet, yet never before in history have we been so ill informed because of the Internet.

It's a treasure chest of accurate and current data and a cesspool of gossip and innuendo.

The Internet gives a voice to everyone, but in doing so, the Internet makes it hard for anyone to be heard.

It's a public forum for science and rationality and a street corner for superstition and irrational beliefs.

It has leveled the playing field for many small businesses competing against big businesses around the world, but it also is responsible for destroying a lot of small businesses by making it easier for big businesses to compete in local markets around the world.

It's a wonderful time saver and an irresistible time waster.

The Internet has elevated social networking and person to person interaction to new heights, but in doing so, the Internet has made it even easier to be completely alone in a crowd.

It's a tool and a toy, a library and a playground, a reference box and a litter box.

The Internet represents freedom and frustration. It's helpful and hurtful.

It's an appliance and an addiction.

It's a big deal and no big deal. It's everything and nothing.

For better and worse, the Internet is here to stay - as long as people, computers and electricity exist.

Here are a few sites that might be of interest related to the history and evolution of the Internet:

Histories of the Internet

www.isoc.org/internet/

Hobbes' Internet World

http://web.bilkent.edu.tr/History/isoc/guest/zakon/Internet/

LearnTheNet

www.learnthenet.co.za

Internet Defined

www.answers.com/topic/internet

(Keith Darnay has worked in the online world for more than a decade and manages the online department and Web site for the University of Mary. His own site, featuring this column going back to 1995, is at www.darnay.com.iec.)