Today we can search for just about anything and within hundredths of a second we can find an answer. It's amazing. I never really knew a time of doing research in an actual library. I can go to a library's web site or just "Google" something if I really want to know about it.The Internet is a crazy thing. While very new, it actually goes back farther that what people think. But where does the Internet come from?
Interestingly enough, the Internet’s origins began in the 1950’s, and computers were originally seen as sci-fi props that were involved with aliens. It was entertaining watching footage from old movies and how hi-tech they portrayed computers.
The original concept for the Internet that is still in use today is, “No one switch should control the network, but everyone controls it.”
There is no one person that controls all the information provided to us by the Internet. We all have a say in what's posted on those websites. One perfect example is Wikipedia. While not very credible some of the time, since anyone can update the information to say whatever they want, it is an online super encyclopedia with information on just about anything. From a specific band, to diseases, you can search for just about anything.
Originally, the first type of connection was four giant computers interconnected with smaller Interface Message Processors, IMPs. Dr. Paul Baran helped to develop a way for this connection to get a message to its destination, even if it is somehow disrupted. They called this time sharing.
There was a lot of skepticism and many wouldn't help fund this project, but thanks to BBN's courage, it began, ultimately creating what we now call the Internet.
The first draft of a form of the Internet was in 1969, like I was talking about earlier with the four giant computers in different places. It was referred to as "archanet." By 1971, after there was proof this crazy experiment actually worked, there were 18 networks. The rest is history.
Today, with our high-tech smart phones, we have apps that can plan our weddings, plan diets and workouts, give us movie times, and help us locate local businesses. Our phones can do just about anything these days. But what was the original killer app? E-mail.
I have never really known much of a time before the Internet, and could not imagine a life without it.
1 comment:
Amanda, when you said that you had "never really known much of a time before the Internet," it called to mind an incident in my life from this week. The TV was on and AMC was broadcasting the first "Death Wish" movie. Charles Bronson was trying to race through traffic jams to get somewhere to warn someone about something. I was thinking to myself, "Why is this so frantic? Why doesn't he just call them (on his cell phone)?" Then it occurred to me: 1974 - no cell phones. (I used to carry a roll of dimes, later quarters, in the car for pay phones. Can anyone even find a pay phone now?) It's so easy to lose that historical perspective. Thanks for the reminder!
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