Have you ever heard the word "killer app?"

A killer application is exactly what it sounds like-- a new application, or way of using, something that already exists, but in a new way. Using baking soda as a toothpaste OR a fridge freshener.

The TCP/IP protocol that allows different kinds of computers to communicate is the foundation upon applications, like the Web, E-mail, and FTP, etc. can be built

As people come up with "new uses" for this super network of computers, some inventions become "killer apps" such a great way to use the system that it can hardly imagined to live without it.

E-mail was one killer app. A new way to use the Internet to send messages.

Another killer app was the file format mp3 which reduced the massive file size of music files and encoded the information to still sound good. Combined with peer to peer file sharing (i.e. Napster) this killer app launched major ethical, social, cultural and economic issues

FTP, or File Transfer Protocol, is also a killer app. It is software that you can download that lets you put files on another computer somewhere else in the world.