The internet is one of the most powerful and influential inventions in human history. It has changed the world dramatically, and it’s not about to slow down any time soon. This quick synopsis will tell you all you need to know about its origins, its rise, and what it’s becoming in the future.
What is the internet?
It was invented by a group led by Tim Berners-Lee and Robert Taylor in 1969 at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) in order to connect computers together so that data could be shared. They were working on a project called Enquire, which was meant to make information more accessible around various disciplines.
The original internet: ARPANET
The original Internet was called ARPANET, and it started in 1969. Only four computers were hooked up to the system, but it grew exponentially over the years, and by 1981 there were 129 hosts on the system. By 1982, multiple versions of communication protocols existed for ARPANET, and they were eventually combined into one overall standard: TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol).
Public availability
In 1989 Tim Berners-Lee invented HTML (HyperText Markup Language) which led to the creation of web browsers like Netscape Navigator and Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. This made it possible to display text and images on through a series of codes.
Exponential growth
In 1994, there were more than 100 million hosts on the internet. By 2000, that number jumped to more than 700 million! Due to its popularity and high demand for faster and faster speeds, companies like Verizon and Comcast (along with many others) began building new broadband infrastructures in order to make those speeds possible.
Google:
The first version of Google came out in 1997 as a research project by Larry Page and Sergey Brin at Stanford University. Despite the slow connection speed at the time – just 56K – it became immensely popular over years due to its usefulness and simplicity.
Social media
Social media has played a huge part in taking the world by storm, and there are countless apps that have skyrocketed to success over the years. Facebook was first launched on 4 February 2004 at Harvard University, but it really took off after being opened up to everyone in 2006.
The platform now has over 2.89 billion users (that’s almost 36% of everybody who lives on Earth)! Other popular social media apps include WhatsApp, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, Pinterest, Reddit, and more…
Mobile phones
The modern smartphone was born out of developments made by Apple Inc., Nokia Corp., Google Inc., Motorola Inc., and others. As much as we love our iPhones today ( even though they were released way back in 2007), needless to say, they have evolved a lot since then!
Cloud services
The rise of cloud computing has been astronomically huge over the past 20 years. In 1996, Amazon introduced its first server as part of an online bookstore. It was small and not very powerful, but it set the ball rolling for what was going to become a huge worldwide business – “the cloud”…
Internet of Things (IoT)
We all know about smart homes and self-driving cars now, but do you remember when smartphones could barely make calls? While smartphones were taking off from 2008 onwards, IoT wasn't born until roughly 2010. The idea is that household objects like fridges, washing machines, doorbells, and even streetlights will come with their own IP addresses in the future. That way they can connect to each other in order to perform tasks more efficiently…
6G
5G has already improved speeds massively in many parts of the world, but this is nothing compared to what’s coming next… 6G will significantly increase download speeds (up to 100 times faster by some accounts), reduce latency (it takes less time for your phone to communicate with a server) and pave the way for new applications that are based on high-speed wireless communications. It is still being developed at the moment, although it’s expected that it will be widely available by 2030.
Blockchain
While it’s true that blockchain was created by a person or group under the pseudonym of Satoshi Nakamoto, in October 2008, it is since becoming a widely accepted technology across many industries. While blockchain isn’t new per see (after all, people had been using digital ledgers to keep track of financial transactions long before), it has become very popular over the past few years because of its ability to provide security and transparency for data-based operations…
Must Read-Very Interesting post: The Secrets of McAfee and Puposce's Death, Awaiting Satoshi Nakamoto's Counterattack
Internet governance
Moving on from protocol standards like TCP/IP and HTML which we mentioned earlier, global internet governance is how governments and other institutions control and regulate the web. It covers issues such as cyber attack protection, privacy concerns, and freedom of expression…
Copyright
Copyright is a form of protection grounded in the U.S. Constitution and granted by law for original works of authorship fixed in a tangible medium that are shared with others. It applies to music, books, film, television, and other art forms…
Cyberspace
Quite simply, cyberspace refers to everything that happens online – it’s where all of your data lies just waiting to be hacked or misused!
Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)
A nonprofit organization founded on 10th August 1990 by Thomas Jefferson who was joined shortly after by John Gilmore. EFF is known for its promotion of free speech, privacy and consumer rights which they believe are core values of technology…
Net neutrality
Net neutrality is the principle that internet service providers should or must treat all data on the Internet equally, and not discriminate or charge differently by user, content, website, platform, application, type of attached equipment, or method of communication…
The World Wide Web
A system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet. Tim Berners-Lee invented it in 1989 while working at CERN. It’s a set of protocols for publishing and viewing information via the internet…
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) Origins
ICANN was initially founded in 1998 by Jon Postel who was also working with the Internet Engineering Task Force at that time. The idea of creating a different body to oversee Internet management came when it became evident that IANA needed to be managed differently due to its growing size…
Currently, ICANN manages all of the technical aspects of the DNS including IP address allocation, protocol parameter assignment, etc. It also manages the root zone of the DNS under contract from IANA…
End Game
The Internet has come a long way since its inception in the 1960s. From being an independent organization to part of IETF, ICANN, and W3C, it is now overseen by many different organizations which have helped shape our understanding of the internet as we know it today. Although the early days were very challenging, it has given us a system which is not only easy to use but available almost anywhere across the globe. The internet has changed our lives in ways that we could have never imagined…
I still remember my first mobile phone (Alcatel) and of course I had Nokia as well. Also I remember when I first registered on Facebook. I was so excited, but not so excited about it now. Thanks for this informative article.