What is Internet ?

When the computing era took a major leap in the 80s, it was all just about the operating systems and the programming languages. People were getting gaga over the heavy technology revolution thinking that this is the one thing that the world needed to get over the bounds of time and space, and as usual, they were wrong. It was not long after the computer revolution that a tide, a blizzard of communication, arrived. This technology now makes the computers look lifeless if they don’t have it. Connecting the corners of the cobwebbed world even from its remotest corner is the 'Internet'.

The Internet is generally defined as a global network connecting millions of computers. More than 190 countries are linked into exchanges of data, news and opinions.

What is Internet?

Not confining itself to any particular definition, the Internet can be defined as the wired or wireless mode of communication through which one can receive, transmit information that can be used for single or multiple operations.

History of Internet

This marvelous tool has quite a history that holds its roots in the cold war scenario. A need was realized to connect the top universities of the United States so that they can share all the research data without having too much of a time lag. This attempt was a result of Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) which was formed at the end of 1950s just after the Russians had climbed the space era with the launch of Sputnik. After the ARPA got success in 1969, it didn’t take the experts long to understand that how much potential can this interconnection tool have. In 1971 Ray Tomlinson made a system to send electronic maill. This was a big step in the making as this opened gateways for remote computer accessing i.e. telnet.

During all this time, rigorous paper work was being done in all the elite research institutions. From giving every computer an address to setting out the rules, everything was getting penned down. 1973 saw the preparations for the vital TCP/IP and Ethernet services. At the end of 1970s, Usenet groups had surfaced up. By the time the 80s had started, IBM came up with its PC based on Intel 8088 processor which was widely used by students and universities for it solved the purpose of easy computing. By 1982, the Defence Agencies made the TCP/IP compulsory and the term “internet” was coined. The domain name services arrived in the year 1984 which is also the time around which various internet based marked their debut. As the internet was coming out of its incubation period which was almost two and a half decades long, the world saw the first glitch that was not at all a part of planned strategy. A worm, or a rust the computers, attacked in 1988 and disabled over 10% of the computer systems all over the world. While most of the researchers regarded it as an opportunity to enhance computing as it was still in its juvenile phase, quite a number of computer companies became interested in dissecting the cores of the malware which resulted to the formation Computer Emergency Rescue Team (CERT). Soon after the world got over with the computer worm, World Wide Web came into existence. Discovered by Tim Berners-Lee, World Wide Web was seen as a service to connect documents in websites using hyperlinks.

By the time the 90s arrived, the larvae had started coming out as more than 40million computers had been sold out, an antivirus had already been launched as well as the graphical user interface was quite in its evolution. “Archie”, the first internet search marked beginning of a new era in internet computing. Categorizing the websites was in its most dynamic phase as commercialized email websites were getting on day by day. It was during this time that the term “spam” was coined which referred to fake emails or hoaxes. Read more about email and email working. In 1992, internet browser called “Mosaic” came into existence. One of the very popular internet browsers, Netscape Navigator made its debut in 1994 which ultimately went to compete with Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. By this time the domain name registration had started to get exponential and was made commercial. In short the Internet Explosion had started to occur.

Coming years saw the launch of giants such as Google, Yahoo as well as strengthening of ultimate revolution creators i.e. Microsoft, Google, IBM etc.

The Internet is Decentralized
Who Owns the Internet?
Number of Worldwide Users
Is Web and Internet the Same?

Unlike online services, which are centrally controlled, by design, the Internet is decentralized. Each Internet computer, called a host, is independent. Operators can choose which Internet services to use and which local services to make available to the global community. Remarkably, this anarchy by design works exceedingly well. There are a variety of ways to access the Internet. Most online services offer access to some Internet services. It is also possible to gain access through a commercial Internet Service Provider (ISP).

No one actually owns the Internet, and no single person or organization controls the Internet in its entirety. The Internet is more of a concept than an actual tangible entity, and it relies on a physical infrastructure that connects networks to other networks.

According to Internet Live Stats, as of August 12, 2016 there was an estimated 3,432,809,100 Internet users worldwide. The number of Internet users represents nearly 40 percent of the world's population. The largest number of Internet users by country is China, followed by the United States and India.

In September 2014, the total number of websites with a unique hostname online exceeded 1 billion. This is an increase from one website (info.cern.ch) in 1991. The first billion Internet users worldwide was reached in 2005.

The Internet is not synonymous with World Wide Web. The Internet is a massive network of networks, a networking infrastructure. It connects millions of computers together globally, forming a network in which any computer can communicate with any other computer as long as they are both connected to the Internet. The World Wide Web, or simply Web, is a way of accessing information over the medium of the Internet. It is an information-sharing model that is built on top of the Internet.

Brief history of internet