The Internet is a system of computer networks that exchange packets of data through a standardized Internet Protocol Suite (TCP/IP). This “network of networks,” also often incorrectly interchanged with the term “World Wide Web,” connects millions of people around the globe, allowing them to instantly share information, resources, and services. But how was this complex network formed?
Several theories exist attempting to answer that very question. The first written vision of the Internet comes from a 1946 science fiction story written by Murray Leinster in which he describes the strengths and weaknesses of a decentralized network of computers working together. However, it was not until a man named J.C.R. Licklider got involved ten years later that the vision would become a reality.
Licklider was selected in 1958 to head the United States’ Information Processing Technology Office (IPTO). A product of the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA), the IPTO was created as a result of the space race and a desire to overtake the USSR after the launching of Sputnik. The IPTO’s first success was to network radar systems across the country in a project called the Semi Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) program. Licklider partnered with Lawrence Roberts whose writings for the United States Air Force had advocated packet-switching over circuit-switching.
On October 29, 1969, the first two nodes of the ARPANET connected UCLA and SRI International in Menlo Park, California. Following the success demonstrated there, the Internet began to grow. In 1978, the International Packet Switched Service (IPSS) connected the British Post Office, Telenet, DATAPAC, and TRANSPAC for the first international packet-switched network.
By 1981, the X.25 packet switching standard had grown to cover the United Kingdom, Australia, Hong Kong, and Canada. However, there were differences between the different TCP protocols. Vinton Cerf, Yogen Dalal and Carl Sunshine, all working at Stanford University, published the first set of technical specifications for universal protocols that could be implemented on a wide variety of operating systems. This universal system was operational by January 1, 1983 and was opened to commercial applications in 1988.
The universal TCP/IP standard allowed the internet to grow, spreading over every communication network thanks to the universal protocols. On August 6, 1991 CERN introduced the general public to the Internet with the introduction of the World Wide Web project. Since then the internet has grown, adding new content and application at an exponential pace.
With continued applications coming online and increased communication possibilities opening up new markets daily, one thing is certain: the growth of the Internet is only just beginning. It is exciting to think about where this journey may take us and what the network will grow into in the years ahead.
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