The Birth of the Internet
The internet’s inception was marked by significant technological breakthroughs and collaborative international efforts.
These milestones in the 1970s and 80s paved the way for the public internet as we know it.
Development of Key Technologies
Key technological developments were crucial for the internet’s creation.
The concept of packet switching, which is the method of segmenting data into packets for transmission over a network, was integral. Paul Baran at the RAND Corporation, Donald Davies at the National Physical Laboratory in the UK, and scientists at ARPANET, including Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn, were prominent figures who made significant contributions to this field.
In 1989, Tim Berners-Lee at CERN proposed the World Wide Web, creating a new way to interlink information through a system known as hypertext.
The Transition to TCP/IP
A pivotal moment came with the transition to TCP/IP, the Internet protocol suite that is now the basis for internet communication.
January 1, 1983, is known as “flag day,” when ARPANET adopted TCP/IP, marking a crucial step in the development of today’s internet networking.
This protocol suite, designed by Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn, facilitated different kinds of networks to connect and communicate with one another, a process called internetworking.
Foundational Projects and Contributors
The internet grew out of multiple foundational projects and the work of many contributors. ARPANET, created under the guidance of the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA, which later became DARPA), was the first network to use packet switching and the TCP/IP protocol, laying the groundwork for future networks.
Influential figures like J.C.R. Licklider, Robert Taylor, and Jon Postel were leading minds behind the concepts that shaped the internet.
Academic institutions, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, and UCLA, played a significant role in development.
Later, NSFNET, a backbone network established by the National Science Foundation, expanded the scope of networked communication.
The combination of these projects and individual efforts facilitated the expansion of a small academic and government network into a comprehensive and global system of interconnected computer networks.
The Internet Goes Public
In the early 1990s, a significant event transpired that would forever change how information was accessed and shared across the globe.
The Web Becomes Accessible
On April 30, 1993, an event pivotal to the technology world unfolded when the World Wide Web was released into the public domain by CERN.
This milestone in 1993 marked the inception of a new era where the internet became universally available, paving the way for countless web pages and services.
Rise of Web Browsers and Services
Following the public emergence of the World Wide Web, the first graphical web browser, Mosaic, was developed by the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois in 1993.
Mosaic’s user-friendly interface spurred the creation of subsequent browsers, setting a standard in browsing technology that would encourage wider user adoption.
Expansion and Commercialization
The mid-1990s witnessed rapid expansion as commercial entities recognized the internet’s potential.
With the internet blossoming beyond academic and research circles, companies like Amazon and eBay emerged, heralding the birth of electronic commerce.
The foundational structure of the web, including the domain name system (DNS), allowed for the proliferation of web sites, contributing to a booming digital marketplace.
Impact on Society and Commerce
The transition of the internet into the public domain catalyzed its assimilation into society and commerce.
Social media platforms like Facebook fundamentally altered communication, while search engines such as Google revolutionized information dissemination.
The World Wide Web became integral to global commerce, leveling the playing field for businesses and enabling the e-commerce phenomena that we observe today.