Blog Post #6 Internet

The Internet

When the internet first began it was not the internet you and I both know. It was not accessible

and only a few people had access. The first prototype came out in the late 1960’s called

ARPANET. This stood for Advanced Research Projects Agency Network. Something that was

unique or “special” about the ARPANET is that it allowed computers to communicate on a single

network. In 1969 there was the first “node-to-node” communication between computers. Although

this was not much of a success the computer only receives the first two letters. At this time the

computer was the size of a small house.

In the 1970’s the technology began to grow. A scientist named Robert Kahn and Vincent Cerf

developed Transmission Control Protocol and Internet Protocol. This set up a communication

model for how transmissions could be sent to different computers. Then in 1983 began the

internet we know today. The ARPANET adopted the TCP and IP. Then finally in 1990 the internet

we know today the World Wide Web was created by a scientist named Tim Berners- Lee. He

worked for a company called CERN which was a European Organization for Nuclear Research.

By October he had created the fundamental technologies that we use to this day on the web.

HTML which stands for HyperText Markup Language. URI which means Uniform Resource

Identifier. Lastly HTTP which is Hypertext Transfer Protocol. The web was only accessible to

those who worked at CERN until 1991 when it became accessible to other people. Tim had a

realization that to meet the webs fulls potential it needed to be free and accessible to everyone,

anywhere, anytime. In April 1993, it was decided the web would be free forever. This sparked

creativity and collaboration.

The internet has many positives and has impacted our lives in many ways. We have access to

limitless information just by typing in a few words and clicking enter. More effective ways to

communicate such as email and instant messaging. A huge one is the exchange of ideas

between groups of people. People from all around the world can share and read about others

ideas. We can now have access to online banking and shopping. Lastly in the business world

companies can meet and do transactions with their clients. While the internet has many positives

there are still negatives as well. Illegal and inappropriate content can be found on the internet.

The ability to illegally download movies or music from various websites. An addiction to social

media or online content. Lastly the ability for criminals to spread viruses and collect personal

information.

Overall the internet has helped computers connect while the world wide web has helped people

connect. We can now easily communicate with others and share ideas.

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