The Internet is a mundane phenomenon known to almost everyone but it is worth revisiting it and shining more light on it. Imagine a world without the internet. What life would that be? Boring? Empty? How does it feel without the internet? I leave the answer for you. What about those generations who preceded the Internet? How were their lives? Which generation is better off, ours or the ones that lived before the advent of the internet? Once again, I am leaving the answer for you. I, for one, believe the Internet age is much better than those without the Internet despite associated shortcomings.
The Internet stands for interconnected Network and is defined as “an electronic communication network that connects computer networks and organizational computer facilities around the world.” The internet started as a communication network extremely needed by the American defence apparatus. Challenging the then Soviet Union which sent a rocket to space, the United States of America took a challenging task aimed at creating a solid network system that could alert every defence force in the event of an attack from the Soviets. Hence, the invention of the internet was a pure militaristic, defence-based need.
Like other inventions, not a single person can claim to have invented the internet. Rather, a group of scientists and researchers teamed up and enabled the internet to evolve, moving from one stage to another, eventually begetting the social media platforms . In 1969, two years after the Soviet Union had sent its first rocket into space, the USA carried out a massive interconnected Network campaign and delegated ARPA (The Advanced Research Projects Agency) to build a computer network system called Arpanet (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network), which “linked mainframes at universities, government agencies, and defence contractors around the country.”
Officially, the first use of the internet started in 1960. Researchers exchanged information using huge, unmovable computers. Only people employed by the Defense Department of the country could share information through that primitive computer network system which did not have a standardized network protocol.
The internet is like an ocean. Anyone trying to dissect it or attempting to chronicle its evolution may drown. But persistence is the key. I will conduct some research, write subsequent articles, and present information pertinent to the internet’s evolution and its eventual goal.