"Surfing the web" is one of the most bizarre, inappropriate metaphors in common use. Real surfing involves balance, timing, general athletic ability, and courage (due to the risks of injury or drowning), is physically tiring, and in general is absolutely nothing like browsing the web.
Browsing the web is much more like fishing:
- You can spend a lot of time at it and not necessarily catch anything worth keeping.
- But it can be fun even if you don't catch anything.
- There are many different species you can fish for (MP3's, sample code, pictures, shareware, etc.), and a given fishing spot may be better for finding some kinds than others. Some spots have a wide variety of species but others are ponds specially stocked with certain things.
- Officially, some species are "catch-and-release" only, like streaming audio. You're not supposed to keep them. Some people find ways to "poach" this content though.
- When you do catch a "keeper" you feel a sense of accomplishment, and may want to tell your friends about it.
- If you find a good new fishing spot, you tell your buddies about it (send them a link).
- Sometimes a spot gets overfished (the Slashdot effect) and then you can't catch anything there.
- Spots vary in size from a tiny fishing hole in a local stream (low-bandwidth personal sites) to huge lakes that would take years to fully explore (large, high-bandwidth, frequently updated commercial sites).
- It can be relaxing, but it can also be frustrating if you can't seem to catch anything you want.
- Most people are willing to pay for a fishing license (ISP monthly fees, subscription sites), but most people are resistant to paying per pound of fish caught (micropayments, pay-per-download, etc.)
- The various fishing rods (browsers) all do pretty much the same thing, but people develop favorites. There are fancy high tech rods (Mozilla, etc.) but you can also catch fish quite well with nothing more than some line tied to a long stick (Lynx).