Why Did It Take So Long for the Internet to Emerge in 1991 if the First Computers Were From World War II?

The timeline often presented in technology history can be misleading if not fully understood. While the Internet's inception can be traced back to 1969 and file transfer protocols were in use by the 1970s, the graphical web as we know it today was not officially invented until 1989. This article explores the reasons behind the delay and highlights the key developments that paved the way for the modern Internet.

The Evolution of the Internet from ARPAnet

The Internet was not an instantaneous revolution. Its roots can be traced back to ARPAnet (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network), which was developed in the 1970s by the United States Department of Defense's Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA). By the 1970s, multi-tasking capabilities and around 32 kilobytes of RAM became essential for networking. The development of TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) in the late 1970s laid the foundation for local area networks within buildings to be interconnected.

The Role of Telecommunication Infrastructure

Over the 1980s, telecommunication companies began to offer networking services. These services allowed computers over long distances to be interconnected, transforming local area networks into a global network. This laid the groundwork for the Internet as we know it today. It is often said that the Internet is a global relay of information extending the concept of local networks over vast distances.

Comparisons with Previous Technologies

It is important to distinguish the Internet from the World Wide Web, which was invented in 1989 by Tim Berners-Lee. The Internet dates back to 1983 when the TCP/IP protocol was implemented. Unix-based systems, the most common platform of the Internet, originated in the 1960s. Technologies like the telegraph, invented in 1837, took a century to offer worldwide coverage. Its voice successor, the telephone, went worldwide in approximately 50 years.

Compared to the telegraph and other communication technologies, the Internet's development was more gradual. The initial hardware for ARPAnet, the Interface Message Processor (IMPs), was derived from teletype communication hardware. Modems, which were crucial for connecting to the Internet over dial-up, evolved from analogue devices to digital ones with time. V56, a modem standard used in the late 1990s, separated baud and bit rates, transforming analogue to digital signals.

The Incremental Improvements

Theoretical work by Claude Shannon, published in 1949 in The Mathematical Theory of Communication, laid the groundwork for the development of modern communication technologies. Incremental improvements in hardware and software were necessary for the Internet to become a viable and widespread communication tool. Slow advancements in technologies such as modems are crucial to understanding why it took so long for the modern Internet to emerge.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the development of the modern Internet was a gradual process, influenced by advancements in communication technologies from the 1960s to the 1990s. The creation of ARPAnet, the development of TCP/IP, and the evolution of modems and telecommunication infrastructure were all crucial steps toward the Internet we use today. Understanding these milestones helps to appreciate the significance of each component in the overall progression of technology.