Napster

Unlike an Internet search, Napster searches do not search the World Wide Web; instead, they search Napster's database, and allow you to retrieve the files from users' computer hard drives using a modem or other connection device. 

To use Napster, you must first download their software from the Napster (or Macster) Web site. You can then send a search request to Napster's central server, where a massive list of all the songs on other Napster users' computers is stored.

Napster returns a list of other users with the file on their hard drives, along with the speeds of their connections. From there, it's as simple as point-and-click: Choose the file you want to download, and in a matter of minutes it's sent directly from the other user's hard drive to your own, without traveling through the central server.

*Reprint The Austin Chronicle May 5, 2000.