EXPERT RESPONSE
According to Whatis.com, downloading is the transmission of a file from one computer system to another, usually smaller, computer system. From the Internet user's point-of-view, to download a file is to request it from another computer (or from a Web page on another computer) and to receive it.
To further clarify, I asked Whatis.com editor Alex Howard to answer your question. He said, "You download an HTML file when you request a URL using HTTP and a Web browser, which usually has images or other files associated with it. That all certainly counts as "downloading," as it involves memory moving over the ISP's network. It's true that this isn't an express download, as would be the case if you downloaded a networking application, for instance, from SourceForge.net or Download.com, but every time you query a new page, you use bandwidth from the ISP."
|