History of
The Net
By John Shukkys
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"MOM, DAD!
Come quick and look at this!" I remember that moment as if it where yesterday.
It was the first time I had ever seen the Internet. My cousin had got access about
August of 1993; I was so amazed at how you could access this source of endless information
for a general fee per month. At that time it was not much to look at, with very little
graphics and a lot to read. From that moment on I knew in some way my life would
be effected by this new a still ever changing electronic medium. Little did I know
I would be pursuing a career in the field of multimedia. Most people know the Internet,
as it is now, the vast network of animation, streaming audio/video, and high quality
graphics. But let's go back to the 1960's, to when the beginnings of what we now
know as the Internet first emerged
The Internet actually first started back in late 1966, in the United Stated by ARPA
(Advanced Research Projects Agency). Under the supervision of the Department of Defense
the very first network was created. Computers where connected between universities
across the United States, starting of with UCLA, UCSB, and the University of Utah.
This network was called ARPANET. The reason the Department of Defense had strong
interests in this network was because they needed a communication system that would
be effective in the case of a nuclear war.
Later on in the 1970's ARPANET started to grow. As more and more educational institutions
started to connect to ARPANET they found a need to set standards for transferring
information, due to the multitude of different applications that were starting to
be used. With this need scientists developed some protocols we still use today; you
may have heard them referred to as IP's and TCP's. These stand for Transmission Control
Protocol and the Internet Protocol. As well in the 70's various United States government
agencies started up their own networks. These included DoE (the Department of Energy's),
MFENet (Magnetic Energy Fusion Network) and many others. With all these different
networks strung out over the country there was the need for one network that everyone
could access and have all this information convientely at their fingertips. Hence,
the introduction of the World Wide Web (WWW).
The person responsible with the introduction of the WWW was a man by the name of
Timothy Berners - Lee. His original intention for the WWW was to help physicists
communicate around the world to the European Laboratory for Practical Physics. But
on November 12, 1990 his proposal for the WWW reached the right hands and became
the standard we use for the Internet. The proposal had two phases, the first being
the design of a browser that would meet everyone's needs. The second part of the
proposal was to have a full time staff of programmer's and designers to extend the
application to allow users to add new material. The second part of Timothy Berners
- Lee proposal was the seller that convinced ARPANET to use his idea.
With all this history behind the Internet you may ask being asking yourself why does
it seem like it is such a new innovation. This is for many reasons, but most of all
there is always going to be a demand forever changing mediums and the way they are
distributed. The Internet is one of these ways because it is so diverse, and thanks
to Timothy Berner - Lee and the founders ARPA we have this means of multimedia at
all our finger tips today.
My name is
John Shukys. I am twenty-one years old. My hobbies are extreme down hill
mountain biking and aggressive and speed roller blading.
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