how would *you* explain the internet?

From Net tech saving the world, a metafilter thread
talking about bringing pedal powered wireless access to rural Laos and digressing to an African village -

At the time, we explained the Internet to them (I had to explain what I did for a living). In the end, we settled for describing it as a system whereby you could ask any question, and get ten answers back. You didn't know whether the answers were right - or whether any of them were right. But you'd get answers.