Introduction
Humanity is currently living in a digital age, defined by the Internet. It plays a huge role in the everyday lives of millions of people. It provides work and self-improvement opportunities, communication with others, all sorts of entertainment, from visual media to music, news about current events around the globe, and many services. Millions of people have access to the Internet, and some even spend their entire day browsing the web. The Internet has undergone many phases in its short lifetime, from a small government network to a worldwide web of information.
Endless Advancement
The Internet indeed has a short lifetime, consisting of only 40 years. Gaining so much influence on humanity as a whole during such a small period of time is astounding. The Internet’s history is not only a history of the technological advancements of humanity, but also the history of modern communications. Scholars say that “an increased number of books and journal articles within the last decade attest to the fact that Internet history is an emerging field of study” (Brugger, 2017, p. 1). The history of the Internet is well-documented and shows the World Wide Web’s amazing ability to advance and revolutionize society.
Historical Roots
Although computers were already in use in the mid-twentieth century, the Internet had not been created. It was only in 1969 that researchers at DARPA – Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency – successfully communicated between computers with the help of the ARPANET, a predecessor of the Internet (Noodle Factory, 2017). In 1972 various other research facilities and universities connected to the ARPANET, and electronic mail or e-mail was introduced to the system. The Transmission Control Protocol, or the TCP, created in 1973, was the first technology to establish the flow of information between computers. By the 1980s, ARPANET had advanced onto a global scale. These were the humble beginnings of the World Wide Web we know today.
The World Wide Web
A new step in the evolutionary process of the Internet was the creation of the World Wide Web. It was invented by Tim Berners-Lee in 1989, and it completely changed the way the Internet functioned (Noodle Factory, 2017). Before, it was a space for communication between government agencies, news outlets, and researchers. After the World Wide Web, the company which owned this technology – The World – became the first commercial Internet Service Provider in America. This invention provided new opportunities for companies to expand their trade operations. However, this is not yet the beginning of the Internet’s main function. A search engine was first launched in 1994, which allowed people to roam the web freely, searching and creating their sites. This development marked a new step in the history of humanity, when chat rooms and forums allowed people to communicate with each other from around the globe instantly. The Internet became a more popular phenomenon in the late 90s and early 2000s, gradually growing to take up a bigger place in people’s lives.
Conclusion
Since its creation, the Internet has massively changed humanity’s trajectory. All aspects of people’s lives, from business to social interactions, are now shaped by the World Wide Web. It has greatly increased in its scale and influence on society since its inception, making us completely dependent on it. It has evolved from a technological history of humanity to a one-of-a-kind history of its own that could someday outlive its creators.
References
Brugger, N., Goggin, G., Milligan, I., & Schafer, V. (2017). Introduction: Internet histories. Digital Technologies, Culture and Society, 1 (1-2), 1-7.
Noodle Factory. (2017). Evolution of the internet [Video]. YouTube.