Now there's no cause to pause

Meet the Internet via video. Ken Welsby hits the 'play' button

People who are intimidated by computers often complain that they find computer books equally off-putting. "They assume we understand things that we don't, really," is the way one friend of mine put it.

If this is you, and you're thinking about getting connected to the Internet, help is at hand in the shape of No Anorak Required, a video from Cyberia, the people who run the chain of Internet cafes that offer connectivity with the cappuccino. Billed as "for technophobes everywhere", this really is the simplest explanation yet of what the Internet is all about.

Presented by Eva Pascoe, Cyberia's co-founder, together with friends, colleagues and cafe customers, it shows you what the Internet is, how it works - and, more importantly, what you can do once you are connected. An academic explains how he researches information from libraries on the other side of the world, while a media person explains that she can publish information which can be read by interested parties around the world. For those who think that they might want to publish their own "home page" on the World Wide Web, there is a demonstration of how to use HTML (HyperText Mark-up Language), which sounds ferociously complicated but can be made easy.

If all that sounds a bit high-flown, Ms Pascoe shows us how to do something much more simple: meet new friends maybe even make a date. But she warns: "Some people are looking for a relationship in virtuality, not in reality, so you may not get to meet them as people, other than online."

If, after seeing the video, you decide you want to get connected, there is a special offer included - sign up with Cyberia's Internet provider, Easynet, and you won't have to pay the pounds 25 joining fee.

The production is simple - no fancy graphics or special effects. What we have in No Anorak Required is the camera looking over the shoulder, watching what's going on. If there is a criticism, it is that the quality of some of the screen sequences would have been improved if they had been output from PC directly to videotape instead of being recorded on camera. But most of the time that doesn't matter, and what this video sets out to do, it does well. As an antidote to the fear and trepidation that many people feel about the Net, it can be highly recommended.

'No Anorak Required' (Cyberia, pounds 14.99) is available from HMV, WH Smith, Virgin Megastore, Tower Records and other major video retailers.