History of the Internet

Internet has come a long way since the 1950’s. It’s evolved from a four computer connection (here in the U.S.A.), formerly known as ARPANET, to the instant global communication amongst billions upon billions of computers. Now, the internet was not initially designed so we could chat with our friends on Facebook. Although that is a perk, the internet had a more vital purpose in America’s life. “The Internet was designed in part to provide a communications network that would work even if some of the sites were destroyed by nuclear attack” (http://www.walthowe.com/navnet/history.html). Not everyone had access to the internet like today. It was used by people in professions such as: engineers, scientists, and librarians. In the late 1960’s libraries started tapping into the many resources the internet had to offer by networking their catalogs. In 1972 Ray Tomlinson adapted a new method of communication, Electronic mail (aka E-mail) which opened up possibilities to many other people in the nation. “As the commands for e-mail, FTP, and telnet were standardized, it became a lot easier for non-technical people to learn to use the nets” (http://www.walthowe.com/navnet/history.html). Universities from all over the country started taking advantage of the internet by means of communication and the sharing of files. The Internet has come a long way in over 50 years, and will continue to grow year by year.