Forty Years of Internet and Introduction to Digital Culture - Essay Example

Forty Years of Internet and Introduction to Digital Culture Forty Years of Internet and Introduction to Digital Culture Today, very few activities can be operated without the internet unlike the environment for 1950s and 60s where almost all activities were handled manually. Internet has existed for more than three decades and its value has been apparent in the globe today. Though it is difficult to state the real age of internet many suggestions point at 1969 as the beginning or the birth year of the internet. There have been so many changes since the onset of internet activities in 1969 and this raises the discussion on the age of the internet as well as the definition of internet. This paper attempts to outline the real definition of internet and the age of the internet. Many people in the globe today are ardent users of internet but they cannot be able to describe or define the internet. It’s a significant tool to many but many people are ignorant about its definition. There could be various definitions of internet but the one fits the subject well involves networking. Internet involves computer networking where a worldwide computer network involves network protocols to ensure exchange and transmission of data. It is a programmed system which interlinks various computers in the world through worldwide networking protocol to enhance transmission of information to various destinations in the world. It enables people to be able to communicate, transfer payments and data, conduct research, and carry the daily office duties among other activities through a computer network system. The practical definition and description that a common internet-user should use involves a tool that involves computer networking around the globe through networking protocol to enhance transmission of data from one computer to another (Kouvatsos, 2011).  Besides definition and description of internet being critical subject in the globe, the age of the internet is precarious too. There has been no specific reference date of when the internet begun but Burkeman (2009) indicates that the real date can be traced back in 1969. He described the events that culminated to the initial idea about internet. He states that during 1969, when human beings had just landed on the moon and just after the Woodstock, there were the first activities about formation of internet (Burkeman, 2009). He says that a huge metal box that was grey in color was delivered to Leonard Kleinrock’s office who was a professor then at University of California. Though it resembled a household refrigerator, Kleinrock was more excited because he probably knew that he had made a breakthrough in an operation that would later result to availability of internet in the world today. He even tried to explain the idea to those who had a little knowledge about computers though it was still difficult for them. It was an interface message processor (IMP) that had been delivered to Kleinrock and it was produced by a Boston company (Burkeman, 2009). Though it is hard to clearly state the specific day that internet was born, Kleinrock actions lead us to the fact that the idea might have been conceptualized in 1969 or a year before since the first real demonstration about internet was conducted in 1969. In 29th October, 1969, Kleinrock demonstrated an experiment that conceptualized the idea of internet. During this day fellow professors and students gathered around the experiment that he was testing. He connected the computer to the IMP and made contact to the second IMP which was then linked to a second computer which was many miles away in Stanford Research Institute. Charley Kline who was located at Stanford Research Institute tapped a message that was phrased from Samuel Morse 125 years earlier. He was expected to login to the system by typing a command LOGIN. This proves the breakthrough in the execution of the initial idea about internet (Burkeman, 2009). The fact internet has been described as computer networking where a worldwide computer networks use network protocols to enhance transmission of data, the same concept is seen in the experiment that Kleinrock undertook. He was able to connect two computers through IMP to ensure that the data or the message was transferred to the second computer. Since then, tremendous progress and transformations have taken place in the internet world to facilitate development in information transmission. This stands as the core reason that one can conclude that the internet was born in 1969. Since the concept about internet resembles Kleinrock’s idea, it is possible that researchers and scientists advanced the idea to form the internet. Burkeman (2009) claims that the activity that Kleinrock performed in 1969 was down-to-earth in such a way that it was not intended as a secret weapon against the Soviet Union and it therefore seems to be a demonstration of research that scientists were conducting to find ways of accessing information on how to conduct research remotely using computers and a way of communication between people. Scientists must have been seeking ways to enhance and facilitate their research and since information was widely distributed, they aimed at a getting a system that could assist them access the information through the use of computers. Information about internet discovery is limited to the years that presided 1969. This means that although the idea of introducing internet could be running through the heads of many scientists before 1969, the real practical demonstration was undertaken in 1969. One may claim that the internet was born when born when the idea of producing IMP was presented since he could be having the knowledge and idea of what the boxes were meant to do. However, it cannot be described as the real birth of internet because the birth signifies introduction of a system that is almost whole or nearly resembles the real finished products. Since the project that was conducted in 1969 proves to resemble the true description of the internet, it is thus easy to conclude that Kleinrock led to birth of internet in 1969. Further other scientists seem to improve or advance on the original experiment that was conducted in 1969 (Greiffenstern, 2010).  In conclusion, internet acts as a tool that involves computer networking through network protocols that interlink computers worldwide to transmit information or data. Kleinrock seems to be the father of internet as he introduced the first idea about internet in 1969. Internet is thus said to have been born in 1969. References Burkeman, O. (2009). Forty years of the internet: How the world changed forever. The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2009/oct/23/internet-40-history-arpanet Greiffenstern, S. (2010). The influence of computers, the internet and computer-mediated communication on everyday English. Berlin: Logos-Verl. Kouvatsos, D. D. (2011). Network performance engineering: A handbook on convergent multi-service networks and next generation Internet. Heidelberg: SpringerLink. Read More