History Of The Internet

Introduction

While many people think that the Internet is very young, they are sadly mistaken. The early beginnings of the internet began in 1965 when MIT connected 2 computers together and the computers were able to speak to each other using packet switching technology. This stemmed from the launch of Sputnik the first artificial satellite to be sent into space. This worried the United States that they were behind in the times and created the ARPA (Advanced Research Projects Agency) to help advance the United States technology. The Internet has come a long way in the 40 years that we have been developing it. The reason the Internet is what it is today is due to all of the technological advances we have over the past years. There have been many great advances in the past 40 years, but there are also some advances that have hindered the growth of the internet at the same time. The largest advances that we have had are the packet switching technology, wireless technology, email, online stores, DNS, and search engines. While these are all great technological advances, there is also an advance that hindered the growth of the internet and this was the virus.

Packet Switching

WEBOPEDIA.COM defines packet switching as "protocols in which messages are divided into packets before they are sent. Each packet is then transmitted individually and can even follow different routes to its destination. Once all the packets forming a message arrive at the destination, they are recompiled into the original message." Along with packet-switching that was created in 1965 was a set of protocols to bring all the different types of computers and operating systems together and able to communicate with others. This is a great advancement because to this day we still use packets to transmit data and are able to network computers around the world together and they are able to communicate correctly. Without packet-switching and these protocols the internet as we know it would not exist and there would be no communication between different systems, software or operating systems.

Wireless Networking

Wireless networking is another great advance in the Internet. Wireless communication exists outside of the internet in radios and such, but it helped expand the Internet greatly. The first wireless network began in 1971 in Hawaii. This WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) was called Alohanet and was comprised of seven computers across 4 of the Hawaiian Islands. Since then we have created wireless hotspots all across the globe that allow users to tap into a WLAN without a cable, making connection to the internet very convenient. In 2005 we are started to see talks of entire cities/towns under a giant wireless umbrella. While wireless is not as stable or secure as a wired network, everyday we are finding new ways to heighten the security and connectivity.

Email

Email is a predominant method in which we communicate with family, friends, businesses, and co-workers. The first basic email program was written back in March of 1972 and just contained basic commands of reading and sending email. Since then it has greatly changed, now we can format our email with fonts, pictures, files, sounds, and other multimedia. Email has replaced many communications that we may have used regular mail for or even the phone. While email has not completely replaced regular mail it has made a gigantic impact and best of all there is no postage needed for sending an email.

Online Stores

Before the introduction of online stores in 1994, all shopping was done at a brick and mortar building in local communities. Since 1994 though, more and more different commodities and businesses are going online. Pizza Hut was one of the businesses that first brought their business to the internet, making people able to order pizza's online. Today we have stores like Amazon.com, Ebay.com, and many more that allow us to shop for different items in the comfort of our own home, and have the products shipped to our houses. Online stores have revolutionized the way we shop but still have more potential that will be reached in the future as more and more people are willing to accept purchasing items online.

DNS

While the other topics discussed so far have been all advances that users notice, DNS is very important but it not noticed by many internet users. DNS or Domain Name server simplified the way that we access websites. The internet is based on IP addresses (i.e 123.456.7.8) DNS was created in 1983 and translates these IP addresses into domain names which are alphabetical