cThis week's assigned web log we are to talk about an invention created in the US that changed the world for the better. I chose the internet.
My reason for this? is because it made the world a much smaller, closer together place, as we studied last year in Current World Issues. People can shop, chat, and do almost anything online that we can in person.
History of the Internet: The internet was first envisioned in the 1960's, when people saw that computers had potential to share information regarding the military and scientific fieds. J.C.R. Licklider was the first to propose the idea of a global network of computers. He was granted the money to continue his research as he headed the project at the DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency). Leonard Kleinrock first created a system called 'packet-switching,' which later led to the creation of the modern-day internet connection.
The internet (formally known as ARPANET) was brought online in 1969. The first person to use the internet Charley Kline at UCLA, as he sent the first packets (blocks of information of any content) to the Stanford Research Institute. As he tried to connect, the system crashed as it reached the 'G' in 'LOGIN.' Despite this, the institute believed the communications could work even if some sites were destroyed by nuclear attack.
In days of no personal computers, the early internet was used by engineers, computer experts, scientists or librarians. These people would have to learn to use the insanely complex system. Ray Tomlinson would then become the man who adapted email for the internet. He was the genius that chose the @ symbol to link the username and address of the user. In the late 1970's and the 1980's, many smaller projects sprouted to help educational systems exchange information all around the world. A few examples are the UUCP, or the Unix to Unix Copy Protocol, and BITNET (Because It's Time NET).
The first interface friendly to most users was developed at the University of Minnesota. It contained a menu system that provided files and information that could be accessed from throughout the campus. It was called a 'gopher,' which is a named derived from the University of Minnesota's athletic system's team mascot. A few years later, another process simplifying information distribution was created by the CERN organization. They proposed the protocol that included the system of hyperlinking, so when you click on hypertext, it brings you to a new web page, such as this.
I would now like to write about the most important step in the development of the internet: the publication of Netscape. In 1995, Netscape made their internet access available to the public, which was available to anyone. Microsoft hugely capitalized on the uprising of the internet, nearly creating a monopoly with the success its software. This would eventually lead to Google, Mozilla Firefox and anything on the internet that you can imagine.
This is the logo of Netscape, an internet browser that was popular in the 90's, but died out and was later BOUGHT out by AOL in 2003.
Final Thoughts: I would like to summarize this web log by saying this: Without the internet, the world would be nowhere near where it is today. Everything we do would take much longer than it does with the assistance of the internet. Even now, I would be writing all this with a pencil and paper while reading from an Encyclopedia. These are my reasons why I think the internet is the most important invention created in the US.
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