Were you doing an extract batch? Did you add any malt extract syrup or powder to the water? If you were trying to do an all grain version, that may be pretty tough for the first try. Maybe post the recipe you were doing and we could help out a little more. If you didn't boil the water at all, I must say this beer may not turn out at all. Did you take a gravity reading with a hydrometer? That would be one way of knowing if you extacted any sugars from the grain.
Reasons for needing to get a good rolling boil going are as follows.
Sanitization is possibly the most important reason, and a necessity, for boiling wort. Boiling kills bacteria and fungi that get into the wort either on the malt or some other ingredient or manner (i.e. floating through the air). This creates a stable medium for growth for yeast by removing competition for the yeast and it reduces the potential for spoilage of the final beer.
2. Hop utilization:
Heat is needed to extract oils from hop resins and a combination of heat and pH makes it water soluble through isomerization, which changes the molecular structure of the hops.
3. Volatization:
A vigorous boil will volatize or remove undesirable elements from the wort into the atmosphere (assuming there is no lid on the pot to block volatization). Examples of undesirable elements/characteristics that are removed include dimethyl sulphide (DMS – particularly from Pils and German Pils malt) and some hop elements.
4. Concentration:
Through the evaporation of water, the wort is concentrated and aids in achieving a brewer’s desired starting gravity.
5. Colourization:
Sometimes called caramelization, this refers to the Maillard reaction that goes on during boiling. A chemical reaction between sugars and amino acids, each brought out in the mashing process, occurs through the introduction of heat (boiling). The result is a darkening of the colour of the wort. This can be increased by prolonged boiling.
6. Protein coagulation:
Also known as “trub formation” this refers to the bonding of proteins with each other. As they become less soluble (by bonding into bigger pieces), they dissipate out of the wort as trub. An advantage of this is that tannins can also become associated with these proteins. The more that existing tannins are removed from the wort, the less chance there is of there being astringency in the final beer. This also reduces cloudiness in beer.
7. Termination of enzymatic activity:
The high temperature of boiling the wort ends any enzymatic activity that was occurring in the mash. This reduces the chance of starches being further broken down, which would lead to a thinner beer.
8. Lowering the pH level:
The process of boiling lowers the pH level of the beer. The lower pH level, in turn, assists in the utilization of hops and contributes to a healthy environment for yeast growth.
Here is a great resource for the beginner, and it's free.
http://www.howtobrew.com/intro.html