Эссе Дмитриевой Елизаветы (16 лет), ученицы 10 «А» класса Муниципального бюджетного общеобразовательного учреждения «Средняя общеобразовательная школа № 18 имени Героя Советского Союза генерала армии В.Ф. Маргелова» города Пскова.

When was the last time you used the Internet? I am sure it was very recently! In our modern, high - tech society and with 24 - hour access to the Internet, it is not surprising that each of us can browse the Web and chat with friends, get information about hobbies and look up entertainment events, check the weather and read the news, listen to music and download images. But how did people live before the emergence of gadgets and how did they imagine them?

The famous French science - fiction writer Jules Verne in his novel "Paris in the Twentieth Century" talks about a machine that helps people communicate safely: "Electric telegraphy must have greatly diminished the number of letters, for new improvements now permitted the sender to correspond directly with the addressee; secrecy of correspondence was thus preserved, and the most intricate deals could be transacted over great distances." And you, probably, send emails instead of letters, do not you? It became the prototype of computers and the Internet.

In his other book, "One Day of an American journalist in 2889", Jules Verne describes the phonophone: "The telephone, completed by the telephote, is another of our time's conquests! Though the transmission of speech by the electric current was already very old, it was only since yesterday that vision could also be transmitted. A valuable discovery, and Francis Bennett was by no means the only one to bless its inventor when, in spite of the enormous distance between them, he saw his wife appear in the telephotic mirror." So you can see the person on the screen and talk to him wherever he is. And many of us today use the internet to make a video call.

To sum up, talented Jules Verne predicted the emergence of science - fiction inventions related to the use of electricity, which are relevant in the 21st century. However, not everyone has access to technology. In fact, about 64% of the world's population is connected to the Internet. I believe, in the near future the Internet really will take over the whole Earth.