The Internet A 10-minute history

1. The InternetA 10-minute history

2. Internet today • 1990s—not many people used the Internet • Today—more than 75% of Americans use Internet (222 million) • 87% of Americans between 12 and 17 are online • 76% get news online • Americans 18 to 34 • Internet has overtaken all print media as a regular news source • Rapidly closing in on TV news

4. Internet today • Internet has becomefastest growing electronic technologyin world history • In U.S., afterelectricitybecame widely available,46 yearspassed before30 percentof American homes were wired • GE “Octagon” TV in 1928 (3 inches) • It tookInternetonlyseven yearsto reach30 percentof U.S. households

5. International audience • North Americans are no longer majority of Internet users (2006 Internet World Stats) • 36.5% Asia • 28.2% Europe • 21.8% North America • 7.8% Latin America / Caribbean • 65% to 75% of Internet content is in English • Translation tools in development • Probably not functional for 15 years

7. How did Internet start? • In 1969, during Cold War, Internet created by Department of Defenseto exchange data and text messages between mainframe computers • This network of computers, starting with a link between UCLA and Stanford, began to grow to help academic and military researchers share data with one another through a protocol called TCP/IP • TCP/IP is your connection software—what actually goes out and connects to the other computers in the world, gets Web pages and feeds them to your browser

8. What was original Internet like? • Only text documents; difficult to use • This internetwork of computers would function even if major segments were knocked out by a nuclear attack or saboteurs • If any distribution point was overloaded or knocked out, messages could be rerouted through other distribution points

9. 1970s & 1980s • 1970s • Electronic mail (e-mail) • Early personal computer for non-techies (Xerox) • 1980s • PCs entered consumer market • Apple’s user-friendlydesktopdesign made computers easy for use • Military relinquished Internet development and funding to civilian organizations • Internet spread to major universities and research centers around the world

10. How did the Internet grow? • 1989—Tim Berners-Lee,a British computer specialist working in Switzerland, was looking for a way to manage and share large amounts of information among colleagues • Scientists at universities and institutes all over world wanted to be able to collaborate onhigh-energy physics projects • He created aweb of documents(which he called amesh) connected to each other by a coded language calledhypertextand hosted by computers calledservers

11. Birth of World Wide Web • Berners-Lee named meshWorld Wide Web • He createdHTML (Hypertext Markup Language),a standard coding language that enabled people to send images (photos and graphics) as well as text on the Internet • 1993—a browsercalledMosaicmade it possible to view graphicsand multimedia • Mosaic evolved intoNetscape,and the Web became themostpopularpart of the Internet,other than e-mail

12. First newspapers on Web • 1994—Palo Alto Weekly(shovelware) • Compare with Palo Alto Weekly today

13. First newspapers on Web • 1996—New York Times • rudimentary navigation • simple layout • few graphics • not much content • list of headlines • updated daily • no ads • no personalization • Compare with New York Times today

14. What’s difference between Internet and WWW? • Internet—a vast network of thousands of interconnected computers all over the world that store info and send it out • No government or business owns Internet • No president, no CEO, no central headquarters • Is the Internet a better vehicle for free speech and public debate than any other existing form of communication media, such as TV or newspaper? • World Wide Web—part of the Internet we’re most familiar with

15. Cyberspace • William Gibson coined term in a science fiction novel called Neuromancer • Published in 1984, a year made famous by George Orwell in his futuristic book • Gibson describes cyberspace as an alternative world made up of masses of info from corporations, military and governments as well as individual egos

16. More on cyberspace • A person accesses this matrixof info with an electronic deck equipped with electrodes • The user enters cyberspace by means of a direct electrical connection to brain • Gibson envisioned a future underworld where people would routinely “jack” into a global computer network to participate in unsavory businesses, commit crimes, and act out their fantasies

17. The End (of an Era)

18. Final thoughts • Rapid evolution of any technology raises questions about its potential benefits and possible negative consequences • Particularly true of the Internet • Its breakneck growth and powerful interactive capabilities have inspired a national dialogue in the media, among legislators, and among public interest groups

19. Questions • What about children's access to online material? • Or threats to yourpersonal privacy?

20. Who jumped on the Web first? • Magazines enjoyed first early success, mainly because of their experience with graphics • Many innovations were led by magazines • nationalgeoraphic.com • Little knowledge, lots of enthusiasm • Money pit • Cultural differences (plantation vs. Wild West) • Philosophical (me vs. Mark Holmes) • Lots of adrenalin (early mornings, late nights)