Unlike some alternate forms of media, such as a newspaper, where information has to go through an exhaustive production process (e.g. a newspaper having to be typed, edited, copied, printed and distributed), publishing on the web has a time advantage. Information on a web page can be dynamically and instantaneously updated as often as deemed necessary, having such information available around the clock for potentially 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
Another advantage of web publishing is the low overhead costs necessary to keep the "prints" going. Assuming one already has a computer, Internet access, and the bare bones supply of software, the only expenditure, for the most part, is your time. No more purchases of huge manufacturing machinery, no more hiring of lazy and incompetent workers, none. Just you, working on your computer, publishing away.
Cutting edge Interaction is another benefit to working with web publishing. "Personalizable" forms can be created with user/viewer feedback arriving almost the second they send it (TRY IT!). Other technologies include multiple frames within one document (allowing for better design capabilities), scripts (like Sun Microsystems Java language) permitting better interaction and programmable "multimediated" pages, pushing video (like a Quicktime clip) or audio (like a Real Audio clip) through a page, searchable indexes or engines (like Yahoo! and many others, giving a huge advantage over often static alternative forms of media. When was the last time you listened to a clip of Sinead O'Conner while reading about her in a magazine?
Once all of this is put together, one must tackle the task of distribution. In the world of publishing, getting your message out to as many people as possible is the key. You could have the best book in the world, for example, but if nobody can access it and it is not widely available, it doesn't make any sense. Because the Internet can be utilized in this way, it doesn't take much for one to become their own author, publisher, etc. of their own little "printing press..."
Many skills are involved with publishing a presentable web site for the general viewing public. A good grasping knowledge of the language that web pages read, called HTML (HyperText Markup Language), is a key one. Other skills may include the know-how of web page development and design, marketing, cognitive writing, and a general grasp of the Internet and how things work in this new media (see here).
Because things are changing so rapidly on the Internet, like coding, applications, etc., keeping up-to-date with the latest technological developments is a must if one wishes to sink or swim in this field. Making sure one is on top of the newest updates (as they occur) is a helpful skill to acquire.
Viewing the Internet is more complicated than one might think. Aside from the complexity of learning how to successfully navigate the Internet so that you can use it effectively, one must decide how they are going to view the information presented in front of them via navigational browsers (programs that aid in presenting pages on the Internet).
Although, there are numerous businesses vying to get a hold of part of the web browser market, the top three browsing methods remain: Netscape Navigator, Microsoft's Internet Explorer (IE) and the text-based Lynx.
Netscape Navigator, the industry's current powerhouse browser,
has many options besides just viewing web pages. One can check their 
E-mail, go to newsgroups, access FTP (File Transfer of Protocol) sites,
among others. This is my favorite browser mainly because I am so used
to it and its features. And, when trying something new on a different
browser, I find myself saying, "It's just not the same..."
IE is on a big campaign to prove to the world that their
browser is superior to Netscape's one in its options, flexibility,
etc. Although I have not used IE too extensively, I still prefer
Netscape over IE. In my run of IE, load-time, especially 
graphics, tended to be slower than that of Netscape. View IE's
marketing scheme that lines up itself against Netscape here,
and also read about what Netscape has to say about this competition here.
The third way to access a web page is through the text-based
browser called Lynx. Many people prefer this method of Internet
browsing because of the faster accessibility (no images to load) and
simplicity. All one needs in order to access this method is a UNIX 
shell account (assuming their connection has Lynx loaded in their
system). Almost half of the Internet population is still using Lynx as
their primary form of web browsing, so many Internet sites still offer
the option of viewing their pages with or without graphics.
I like to use Lynx when I want quick and easy information retrieval. I don't have to worry about images to load, fancy applets to run, or state-of-the-art techno jumbo to feed my palette. All I want is straight information and I can achieve this via the Lynx browser.
Personally, I like to incorporate what I discover on the web that interests me, to my own personal web page, entitled ED-LAND. Initially, it was designed as a place to store and link a lot of information on famous celebrities, sports, music, and a lot of other things that interested me. Soon, my page started to gain notoriety and I was forced to remove a few pages from the UH system because of bandwidth problems.
Although, I still poke around with that page a little here and there, my main focus is on trying to start up a small business with a couple of my high-school friends. I am very interested in web page design and development and the future of the Internet and want to be right where the action is when new technologies get introduced. This way I can do my own little version of Guttenberg's printing press.
