The internet is one of the most important marvels of the modern era. It has led to breakthroughs in communication and data transfer as well as information sharing that has helped humans make massive steps towards greater development. It is basically a world wide system of interconnected networks that utilize the TCP/IP protocol to allow data transfer. This has allowed websites to be built, messaging services to start and many more things that have become an integral part of life for many people around the world. Many commercial enterprises use the internet to spearhead their marketing campaigns while others such as Ebay are wholly dependent on the system for their revenue generation. Keeping in view the plethora of uses that the internet has been made to foster, the beginnings of the system emerge as somewhat of a startling revelation.
Localized networks of computer systems had been brought to use across major universities in the United States and other such big establishments prior to the internet. These highlighted the tremendous advantages that networking offered and can be said to be the precursor to the world wide system (Loughran 1-48). The United States military wanted to rival the apparent technological breakthroughs of the Soviets following their launch of successful satellite systems into space. This led to the foundation of the Advanced Research Projects Agency which contributed and fostered research into networked radar systems that spanned the United States in order to supplement defense requirements. One of the important personalities that got involved with the projects was ex-Harvard researcher Joseph Licklider who was instrumental in the SAGE project that had been initiated and also contributed by bringing in Lawrence Roberts to the team. Roberts had been involved in a comprehensive study of packet switching technology that was supported by the Air Force as being increasingly robust and efficient. Its significance was duly recognized and the beginnings of ARPANET were laid via two nodes connecting UCLA and SRI International in the state of California. As the success of packet switching came forth, such networks were replicated in Britain in the late 1970s while the connections further expanded to Australia, Hong Kong and across Europe and North America (Loughran 1-48).
The network first came to be referred to as the internet in 1974 on the back of increasing popularity. The next major step involved refinement of the protocols that were being operated on and make them more compatible to additional operating systems so as to increase the breadth of usage of the internet. The system found wider usage as it was opened to commercial enterprises in the year 1988 which saw a massive explosion in the number of users. In the following year, Internet Service Providers began to emerge in the United States providing dial-up access to the wide area network. The World Wide Web as we know it today emerged out of CERN in the 1990s which saw the internet gain an increasingly public face (Okin 156-200). By one estimate, the growth in the number of users was at a hundred percent in the nineties. This had its disadvantages in terms of load on the system as well as illegal usage which was attributed primarily to inept central administration and the open nature of the protocols. Business started to emerge increasingly over the internet with dot com companies emerging every where and issuing massive IPOs that led to the stock markets soaring. However, as the internet became common place and began to be understood more, these companies went bust which was a highlight in its history as it pointed to a more mature user base of the network system. Today there are over a billion users of the Internet and growing as the third world countries get more access (Okin 200-240).
There is increasing speculation as to where the internet will be headed from here on. Many developments are looked forward to. Most of them are based on the system becoming increasingly intelligent to allow ease of search and communication. One such growth is of the “semantic web”, whereby instead of getting a range of answers to search queries from the network, search engines are able to return a select few responses that meet the needs of the query (Zittrain 267). Another proposed development is of creating standard API that would allow ordinary hardware such as that found in homes to be able to connect to the internet. For example a washing machine could be automated and operated via internet for the ordinary household. Video communication has already taken on an increasing role but it can be said that the full potential of this technology is not employed yet and at some point in the future, it will become an integral part of communication via hand held devices to service the human need for social interaction with a visual element. Finally, social networking has emerged as a phenomenon because of the internet. However, its rapid growth points to increasing developments in that area as more and more of our social interactions and communication will be defined by the internet (Zittrain 280-300).
Bibliography
“INTERNET USAGE STATISTICS.” Internet World Stats.. Miniwatts Marketing Group, 2009. Web.
Loughran, Donna. Internet History Technology and you. New York: Raintree Steck Vaughn, 2003. 1-48. Print.
Okin, JR. The Internet revolution: the not-for-dummies guide to the history, technology, and use of the Internet. New York: Ironbound Press, 2005. 156-240. Print.
Zittrain, Jonathan. The Future of the Internet And How to Stop It. New York: Jonathan Zittrain, 2009. 243-309. Print.