History of the Internet - Essay Example

History of the Internet History of the Internet The Internet has become one of the most implemented tools in our modern lives, aiding us in everything from looking up quick facts to attending college or making dinner reservations. It has become almost a necessity for many of us, regardless of whether or not we are students, businesspeople, or simply curious. Before this miraculous invention became what it is today, the Internet used to be a basic gadget that found more use in work and school environments than within households.

The first run with the Internet was on October 29, 1969 between computers at Stanford and UCLA, making these computers the first to be connected on the network known as Arpanet. “The first message sent across the network was supposed to be ‘Login’, but the link between the two colleges crashed on the letter ‘g’ (Ryan, 2010).” Far from being fazed, computer specialists worked on fixing the problem and perfecting their concept of the Internet. By 1970, Harvard, MIT and BBN found themselves connected to one another through their computers; in 1971, email was being introduced, allowing schools and businesses to communicate with each other through computer networking.

It was in 1974 that the Internet that we are familiar with now began to really take off. During this year, it was proposed that the various computers on the Arpanet network should be connected to one another. Due to this, it was determined that the network should have a purpose if numerous computers could access it, and thus the bulletin board system was designed, which would allow for messages to be displayed on a page and be accessed by others on the network. This brought to light the concept of being able to share information between separate computers on the same network.

In 1979, the world was introduced to Usenet, an internet-based discussion system that allowed for the sharing of information and the discussing of specific topics between all of the users of the network system (Banks, 2008). The 1980s was a big decade for the growth of the Internet. Inspired by the popularity of the bulletin-board system and Usenet, the domain name system was created, which allowed people to make their own Usenet-inspired pages, complete with their own names that would make it easier for others to find.

The year of 1989 saw the biggest breakthrough when the World Wide Web was proposed. By the early 1990s, the first web pages were being created, with the purpose of the first web page being to explain what a web page was and how it was to be created and used. The 1990s saw the greatest growth for the Internet, including the first public-accessible web browser, Mosaic. A few years later, Mosaic had a competitor, Netscape Navigator. With web designers getting on board and creating their own contributions to the Internet, the ways the Internet could be used expanded, with the Internet officially becoming commercialized in 1995.

The webmail service, Hotmail, was created, as well as the first ‘weblog’ website. The Google search engine was introduced, immediately followed by Napster, an Internet-based file-sharing program. The rest truly is history. The Internet that we know now is indistinguishable from the Internet that existed over forty years ago. We have seen the creation of Wikipedia and the introduction of social networking websites, most notably MySpace and Facebook. As technology becomes more advanced, web designers and other creative professionals are finding even more, often unbelievable, ways that the Internet can be used, including grocery shopping from one’s living room or chatting face-to-face with family members that live thousands of miles away.

References Banks, M. A. (2008). On the way to the web: The secret history of the Internet and its founders. Berkeley, CA: Apress. Ryan, J. (2010). A history of the Internet and the digital future. London: Reaktion Books.