Bridge the Gap

The birth of the Internet has given us many fascinating tools and avenues of socializing and doing business. While looking to the future is always exciting, exploring the history of the Internet as well as the current ways we communicate and get our information is equally amazing and worth a look of its own.

The first Internet prototype came about at the end of the 1960s, originally titled the ‘Advanced Research Projects Agency Network’ or ARPANET (Andrews, E.) Created by the United States Department of defense, it allowed multiple computers to communicate on a singular network. Not long after, in the 1970s, scientists Vinton Cerf and Robert Kahn developed the ‘Transmission Control Protocol and Internet Protocol’, more commonly known as TCP/IP, which set universal standards on data transmission (Andrews, E.). It wasn’t until 1990, that the World Wide Web burst onto the global stage, thanks to Tim Berners-Lee. It is often used interchangeably or confused with the Internet itself but is actually the most common way to access online data such as websites (Andrews, E.). In 1994, Netscape Navigator was released, followed by the debut of Internet Explorer from Microsoft in 1995 (McPeak, A.). There were many browsers released throughout the years but two significant ones after these two were Firefox (McPeak, A.), released by Mozilla as a successor to Netscape. And finally, Google Chrome, released in 2008, which today dominates the market share in browser usage at a whopping 60% (StatCounter).    

E-mail or electronic mail, much like the Internet, got its start with ARPANET. In 1972, Ray Tomlinson worked on creating a system to send messages over ARPANET, much like a standard letter was sent in the mail (4). In the early 1980s, after ARPANET converted over to the Internet, a lot of the email services we are used to today started taking form. 

New features were introduced into commercial email systems such as with the Eudora and Pegasus clients (Peter, I.). Internet standards for email were developed with the POP (Post Office Protocol) system which we still see today with services like Microsoft Outlook as well as others. With the shift from military to anyone being able to send an email, over 600 million people internationally use email in the present (Peter, I.).

            Wikis are repository’s stored online that are open to be edited by anyone and everyone (LeBar, Z.). They have a vast wealth of knowledge and are a huge source of information to the common consumer. Ward Cunningham invented the idea in the 1990s as a way for users to edit information online in web pages (LeBar, Z.). This allowed easier information dumping opposed to typing things constantly into HTML, which is deep in depth but very cumbersome for vast amounts of writing. They are prone to controversy for their open user editing nature. Mass amounts of people underestimate the heavy moderation on wiki pages and the care that go into them. Blogs are very similar to these, though they tend to be more personal in nature, reflecting opinions more often than facts. Big news sites such as the Huffington Post and Buzzfeed classify as blogs, as their site is filled with content from varying authors (McManus, L.).

            Podcasts are in a general sense, radio shows but on demand (What is a Podcast? Learn about podcasting and how to listen). They expanded in growth as the Internet continued to grow and gave the freedom for business opportunities in all avenues that both small businesses and independent people could achieve like never before. In the 2010s, podcasts exploded into the mainstream and are mainly listened to when you are in the midst of redundant or boring activities (What is a Podcast? Learn about podcasting and how to listen). Webcasts in contrast are typically meant for larger audiences.Offering great production values and user interactivity, they are usually events, such as national sports games or elections, and can boost brand presence for those unable to secure traditional TV spots (Speagle, A.).

            The last and arguably latest and greatest technology to really show off the potential and power of the Internet is streaming media. Being able to compress audio and video into a compressed form and be viewed immediately by an audience boasts a huge win over physical media that would largely be distributed for the first fifteen to twenty years of the Internet’s life span (Rouse, M.). This also keeps storage space on your devices free for other applications and software, while still functioning like a DVD or media file you’d have downloaded to begin with, with the exception of live streams. Streaming media is amazing for business use as well, with tools to track how many people are watching or listening to your content, cutting down on costs and piracy and in the more modern world, allowing for cross promotions and interactivity. The only real caveat to enjoying streaming media is a user’s connection speed, with slow speeds limiting them to sub par quality audio

and video.

            Ecommerce is the process of conducting commercial transactions online (What is ecommerce?). The first transaction online was on August 11^th, 1994 (What is ecommerce?). Since then, ecommerce has gradually risen and in the latter half of the 2010s, has increased drastically, thanks to the rise in m-commerce: mobile shopping done via smartphones and other portable devices. Credit cards and payment gateways like PayPal, make shopping online safe and quick.

         

All of these innovations, both the Internet itself and the platforms that make it up, have improved the world and the peoples lives in it. It will be interesting to see what new and exciting things come out of it in both the near and far future.

References

Andrews, E. (2013, December 18). Who invented the internet? Retrieved from https://www.history.com/news/who-invented-the-internet

LeBar, Z. (2017, April 03). What Are Wikis, and Why Should You Use Them? Retrieved from https://business.tutsplus.com/tutorials/what-are-wikis-and-why-should-you-use-them--cms-19540

McManus, L. (2018, April 27). What is a Blog? How it Works Difference Between a Blog and Website! Retrieved from https://createandgo.co/what-is-a-blog/

McPeak, A. (2018, January 30). A Brief History of Web Browsers and How They Work. Retrieved from https://crossbrowsertesting.com/blog/test-automation/history-of-web-browsers/

Peter, I. (2004). The History of Email. Retrieved from http://www.nethistory.info/History of the Internet/email.html

Rouse, M. (n.d.). What is streaming media? - Definition from WhatIs.com. Retrieved from https://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/streaming-media

Speagle, A. (2017, June 09). What Is the Difference Between a Webinar and Webcast? | PGi. Retrieved from https://www.pgi.com/resources/articles/what-is-the-difference-between-a-webinar-and-webcast/

Statcounter. (2018, May 01). Browser Market Share Worldwide. Retrieved from http://gs.statcounter.com/browser-market-share

What is ecommerce? Ecommerce explained with examples. (2018, April 13). Retrieved from https://ecommerceguide.com/guides/what-is-ecommerce/

What is a Podcast? Learn about podcasting and how to listen. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.thepodcasthost.com/listeners-guide/what-is-a-podcast/

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