The internet has changed our world more than any other invention but where did it all begin? The internet is a broadcasting tool, a method of information dissemination and a link for collaboration no matter where you are in the world. A powerful thing indeed so let’s take a look at its origin.

The first mention of social interaction enabled through networking came in 1962 in memos written by J.C.R Licklider discussing ideas for a ‘Galactic Network’. His vision was of a globally connected network of computers and is very much what we have in place today. In 1965, a TX-2 computer in Massachusetts was connected to a Q-32 in California with a low speed dial-up and this was the first wide area computer network ever built.

By the end of 1969, four host computers were connected together into what was called the ARPANET. The following years saw more computers added to this network and work started to complete host-to-host protocol and network software.

In 1972 a successful demonstration took place at the International Computer Communication Conference and was the first public demonstration of this new technology to the public. It was also in this year that the first electronic mail was introduced. The original ARPANET grew into the internet and was designed to be an open-architecture network. For web design Devon, visit http://vuonline.co.uk/web-design/

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An initial motivation for the internet was resource sharing and this is why electronic mail has probably had the most impact of the innovations of that decade. Email provided a new way of how people could communicate with each other and it was in real time and totally revolutionary.

Development of LANS and PCs in the 1980’s meant that the internet could continue to grow. One of the results of the massive growth of the internet was the management issues it entailed. For people to use the network easily, hosts were given names and to begin with there were a limited number of these hosts so it was simple to keep a table of the hosts and their names and numerical addresses. A large number of independent LANS meant that it was almost impossible to keep a tab on all this information and so a result the Domain Name System was invented.

The internet is still evolving and has changed a great deal over the last few decades. What started as a vision of file sharing and collaboration has since spawned email and the world wide web. From a small group of researchers has come a global commercial success that has reshaped global communication.