25 Internet

The World Wide Web, commonly known as www., was created to organize the information on the Internet and was a big part of the commercialization done to make the network more user-friendly. This made it possible to search for a site or topic and relevant results be given back to you. The Internet digitized everything that used to be on paper or in person. Ordering everything online, from food to concert tickets, is a new normal especially for younger generations who have only had the experience of the Internet and not before it. Sending a link is second nature for many people, but it is a revolutionary concept compared to how masses of people communicated 50 years ago.  In this chapter, we will explain the history of the Internet, the basics of what the Internet is, and how it affects our society and its communication.

25.3 History of the Internet

25.3.1. Background

Although it was not always called this, the origins of the Internet come from the Cold War time during the early 1960s. As a part of technological improvements for the United States, a program called ARPANET was created as a simple computer system. The Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA), was an extension of the US Defense Department made with the purpose of inventing new computer technologies. The main goal of ARPANET was to share resources and communicate within our government. As this program advanced, other countries and companies started to use software similar to ARPANET for their own purposes. Very few people were able to navigate these programs at first, but it proved to be an invention worth putting more effort into so it was improved. The Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)/Internet Protocol (IP) was used for ARPANET to start to expand the amount of users the system could withhold (Campbell-Kelly, 2011). As people learned more about computers, they were knowledgeable enough to code key components to connect networks which sparked its ability for communication.

25.3.2. Communication and Information

Email was the first main avenue of communication that was invented. This allowed businesses, government agencies, and others to share information faster and more efficiently than ever before. Connectivity and navigation were the major obstacles these programs faced as they progressed. As this program developed, it became more of what we think the internet is today with the addition of the World Wide Web and search engines. This organized the stored information so that searches had accurate results that were relevant to the inquiry. Many competitors made additions to the field, but only certain technologies lasted. Gopher was a search engine that was beaten out by the Web but was very popular in the 1990s.

During this time, the term Internet was coined as a new improved version of the ARPANET. More companies and individuals began to use the Internet and the value of its benefits increased. This occurred because computers became readily available to the masses. Resources for educational purposes as well as many others utilized computer systems for research and communication. The Internet replaced the previous ways people communicated and gained access to information creating a “global brain” anyone with a computer could tap into. The endless possibilities of this network excited the world for the new technological age and what it could do for themselves and their business.

25.4 Impact of the Internet on Society

25.4.1  Pros of the Internet

The Internet has progressed our society dramatically due to the opportunities it gives to our daily lives. People can instantly send messages and information across the country and world within seconds. The sharing of information for personal and educational purposes gives learning opportunities for those who want to do things like learn a skill or read an article or watch a video on any topic. This opens up the types of knowledge possible to gain depending on what you are interested in. You can meet new people on platforms like social media from anywhere in the world. The Internet has changed the way we work and learn, making it increasingly more important to be connected in our current day. For example, the use of online schooling during the COVID-19 pandemic was only made possible by the extreme advancements we have made to the Internet and communication over the last few decades. Compared to previous types of communication, the Internet has increased efficiency exponentially and allows for constant connection. Governments, companies, and other organizations are able to benefit from the Internet as a database for their information. The internet brought economic prosperity during its original growth and still continues to be a profitable platform where people can connect and share interests with each other.

25.4.2  Cons of the Internet

As the Internet has grown in popularity and ability, it has shown negative impacts that can impact our society. The extreme change in communication has made people, especially in younger generations, dependent on talking over instant messaging rather than in person conversations. It has created a less formal way of conversing which makes individuals less comfortable speaking around other people. The instant speed of the internet has also made us impatient when it comes to waiting for information or responses to a text. The internet is meant to be a tool that assists us in our everyday lives, but it has become an all consuming technology that replaces the need for individuals to learn certain things they should know. People have also abused the use of the Internet by using it to threaten and spread misinformation that can negatively affect others using the web.

While the Internet is available everywhere in the United States and much of the modernized world, there are still many places in Africa, Asia, and South America where the Internet is not commonly used like we do due to lack of accessibility. Third world countries have difficulties paying for the infrastructure and hardware that would allow them to use the Internet to its full potential. In the areas that do have Internet access, the bandwidth, or speed of the internet is very slow and sometimes unsuitable for searches or messages. The Internet would be a very useful tool for developing countries and they should have better connections than they are currently getting.

25.5 – Future Outlook on the Internet

The future possibilities of the Internet are endless and can go in many directions based on what society wants from it. As it is, the purpose of the Internet has turned into something completely different than its intended use and is continuously developing. Artificial intelligence and other computer systems have and will continue to build off the Internet network. It is a base for other technologies and inventions that can use the Internet as a component in its creation. Social media is an example of a form of new communication that the internet has facilitated. There will always be a new next platform that represents the wants of the current generation.

The Internet will always be useful for educational purposes like research and scientific data, as well as government and business uses. During the Pandemic the Internet became even more essential to our world for communication, working, and doing school from home. This showed the full potential the Internet has to keep our society mostly functioning even when people are unable to meet in person. Using the Internet as a way to stay connected in difficult times worked during the Pandemic so it can also be a viable option for the future.

Chapter Summary

From the original version of ARPANET to the Internet today, the expansion of information and communication through the online network changed the face of our world. The Internet uses systems to organize and distribute data to computers and mobile devices. Even though we never think about it, this is what is going on when we search for an article or video online. The Internet has immense power that can be learned from but should also be controlled to keep the integrity of our current societal interactions. It can be an addicting tool especially in younger ages who have had access to the internet their entire life. The Internet is a vital part of our society and how it communicates, making this technology a general framework for our age.

References

Cohen-Almagor, R. (2011). Internet History. International Journal of Technoethics, 2(2).       https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A428930104/AONE?u=clemsonu_main&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=8ef05915

Campbell-kelly, M., & Garcia-swartz, D. (2013). The history of the internet: The missing narratives. Journal of Information Technology, 28(1), 18-33. http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/jit.2013.4

Morton Ann Gernsbacher, (2014). Internet-Based Communication, Discourse Processes, 51:5-6, 359-373, DOI: 10.1080/0163853X.2014.916174

Holmes, G. S. (2014). Internet and the World Wide Web. In K. L. Lerner & B. W. Lerner (Eds.), The Gale Encyclopedia of Science (5th ed., Vol. 4, pp. 2401-2404). Gale. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3727801342/AONE?u=clemsonu_main&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=61e46e8e

Baquero Forero, M. del P. (2013). Mobile Communication Networks and Internet Technologies as drivers of technical efficiency improvement. Science Direct. Retrieved November 17, 2021, from https://www-sciencedirect-com.libproxy.clemson.edu/science/article/pii/S0167624512000522?via%3Dihub.

Leiner, Barry & Cerf, Vinton & Clark, David & Kahn, Robert & Kleinrock, L. & Lynch, Daniel & Postel, Jonathan & Roberts, Lawrence & Wolff, Stephen. (2009). A Brief History of the Internet. Computer Communication Review. 39. 22-31. 10.1145/1629607.1629613.

Odlyzko, A. The History of Communications and its Implications for the Internet. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=235284 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.235284