The portrayal of the network in the popular media, or what the non-techie person-on-the-street must think of us!

Telecommunications networks, and the Internet in particular, were unknown to people outside of the industry until just a few years ago. Today, everyone knows about the Net. But what do people actually know? And where do nontechnical audiences learn what they "know"? This article examines just a few of the ways in which the popular media (books and movies) has presented networks and networkers to the masses.