how would i explain to a computer illiterate person what the internet is and the point of it?

It's like an encyclopedia, only it's free and constantly up to date. Furthermore, the technology that allows it to updated so easily is the same technology that allows information to be sent between two people electronically. The primary advantages of electronic communication are speed, convenience, and efficiency; with the right equipment, you can send text, pictures and sound without expending physical resources like wood pulp, plastics, photographic chemicals or inks, and your media arrive at their destination much more quickly than they would through a postal service.

it is the world at your fingertips.

anything and everything is just a click away.

Tell them that computers talk to each other over the telephone and transfer information more easily and faster than anything else. Just cross your fingers and hope everything works.