The Internet has had a profound impact on society and on the person. This millennium has seen a number of significant turning points in the form of inventions that have defined our evolutionary trajectory.
The Cold War, which split the world into two blocs led by the Soviet Union and the United States, may have sowed the seeds of the Internet’s history in 1957. That year saw the USSR launch Sputnik I, the first satellite into orbit. The Americans built the Internet as a response. In retaliation, the United States established the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) within the Department of Defense in 1958. About 200 scientists worked for this organization, concentrating their skills on building a network that could connect many computers that were spread out over various locations.
Arpanet. The first steps in the history of the Internet
From his position at MIT, Leonard Kleinrock published the packet-switching theory in 1961. It was predicated on the notion that, in order to facilitate transmission, every piece of information leaving a device was broken up into blocks. The blocks he referred to as packets. The next year, Paul Baran demonstrated a communications system that was impervious to outside attacks because it used computers linked to a decentralized network. As a result, even if one node was destroyed, the others would still function normally.
Later, in 1965, it was possible to connect two computers: one in Massachusetts and the other in California by means of a telephone line, although it was not very operational. The big breakthrough came in 1969 with Michael Elie, who succeeded in connecting a computer at the University of California with one at the Stanford Research Institute. Soon after, four more universities joined and this interconnection was called the Arpanet.
How did Arpanet become the Internet?
That was in 1983. After deciding to add the TCP/IP protocol, the US Department of Defense dubbed its network Arpanet Internet. Eventually, just the title “Internet” remained.
Three new resources were added by Tim Berners Lee in 1989, after several years had passed: HTML, HTTP, and a software known as Web Browser. They served as the building blocks for web pages. After a year, the European Centre for Nuclear Research, located in Switzerland, developed the Internet in closed beta before it was eventually made available to the general public in 1991.
What were the most important milestones in the early years of the internet?
There were numerous landmarks in the 1990s, and they came one after the other quickly. For instance, the invention of the first telephone modem in 1990 simplified Internet access for everyone. In addition, the first supplier of this service appeared, and Arpanet was shut down.
Tim Berners-Lee’s World Wide Web protocols and standards made it possible to develop the first web page in 1991. Along with the creation of the first webcam, Gopher, the first search engine was also launched. The standardization of mp3, a compressed file format that allowed sound to be transmitted without quality loss, was arguably one of the most significant advances. Without a doubt, this was a revolution for the music industry.
In 1993, Mosaic, the first graphical browser, was released. Up until that point, the system was completely non-intuitive and required computer literacy to use because text had to be typed. Soon after, rival programs emerged, including Netscape Navigator in 1994.
The first online email service was Hotmail webmail, which debuted in 1996 and was named after the capital letters of the HTML standard.
An examination of the Internet’s history would be incomplete without addressing Google’s 1998 debut, which transformed the way millions of users navigated the site and remains the premier search engine to this day.
How has the Internet changed people’s lives?
The significant shifts of the 1990s were sparked by three crucial factors. On the one hand, the creation of SSL and other encryption technologies. Specifically, this ensured that financial transactions would remain secure. It therefore encouraged the rise of retail behemoths like eBay and Amazon to introduce a new type of commerce.
the interruption of promptness. This significant event was related to the news that exposed Monica Lewinsky and Bill Clinton’s affair. Prior to being published in the traditional print media, this news was first available online. It brought to light the immediacy that would permeate society, the democratization of knowledge, but also the potential for manipulation of that information and the opportunities for unprecedented dissemination.
Lastly, the rise of social networks must be mentioned, as this has created a contradiction between a greater emphasis on autonomy and a sociability that is more intense than in the actual world. Yes, the Internet has drastically affected who we are.
What are the latest innovations?
Today, we discuss artificial intelligence, virtual, augmented, and mixed reality, as well as the Internet of Things, or IoT, and big data analysis. The importance of the newest developments impacts us both privately, at home, and in the public or professional domain.
With its ups and downs, the history of the Internet has undoubtedly been intense, revolutionary, and fast-paced. It has also served as a catalyst for creativity and societal advancement.
