Download the evolution of a new mass medium

ORIGINS of the
Information Highway:
the evolution of a new
mass medium
Charles Babbage
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Cambridge, UK – mathematician and
inventor
Made detailed plans in 1800s – for
calculating math tables.
logical structure of the modern computer
“Father of Computing”
Babbage’s Analytical Engine
Powerful punch-card
controlled general
purpose calculator

Babbage’s idea never
got past the prototype
stage; full functioning
engine never built
“As We May Think”
Article in The Atlantic
Monthly, July 1945
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Authored by Vannebar
Bush, electrical engineer
at MIT and U.S. advisor
during World War II
Introduced concept of a “memex,” a device
that would allow a user to connect different
pieces of associated information
ENIAC

Built in 1946 at
the University
of Pennsylvania
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First large-scale electronic computer

Had 17,468 electronic vacuum tubes

5,000 additions per second; today’s
microprocessor can do 100 million additions
per second
Sputnik 1957
The Cold War and computing
1958: Advanced Research Projects Agency
(ARPA) created under the auspices of the
Department of Defense.

ARPA would become the home of ARPAnet,
a network of computers funded
by the military and designed to allow
communication in the event
of a nuclear attack.
ARPAnet established
1969: First four nodes, or points of access,
to the forerunner of the Internet are
established (UCLA, UC Santa Barbara,
Stanford, University of Utah).
Doug Engelbart
Stanford Node
Vint Cerf
UCLA Node
Ted Nelson
1965: Introduces the principle
of hypertext, associating
information through “links” into
a coherent organization.
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Vinton G. Cerf
“Father of the Internet”

Helped develop TCP/IP protocol in 1970s
Transmission research
1967: Plan for packet switching presented
at technology conference
The minicomputer
1975: Release of
Altair 8800
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Yours for the low
price of $397
Users had to not
only assemble the
Altair themselves,
but write software
for it also.
Along comes Microsoft
1975: Two young software
developers – Bill Gates and Paul
Allen write and market a software
program for the Altair.

Their version of the BASIC language
program for the Altair was a success,
and Microsoft Corporation was born.
Birth of the Apple
1977: Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak launch
the Apple II, which featured built-in
programming, color graphics, and increased
memory capacity compared
to the Altair.

The Apple II was an almost immediate
success, and is credited with being a
ground-breaking model for home
computers.
Home computing
1981: IBM launched a personal computer
model featuring microprocessor chips from
Intel, and MS-DOS operating system from
Microsoft.

1984: Apple introduces the Macintosh
during the third quarter of the Super Bowl,
with a 45-second commercial.
Tim Berners-Lee
1989: Founds the World Wide
Web initiative for his own use
as a researcher at CERN
(European Organization for
Nuclear Research) – drawing
from Bush
 1991: Specified the Hypertext Markup
Language (HTML)

Also developed URLs (uniform resource
locators) and HTTP (hypertext transfer
protocol)
Birth of the browser
1993: Marc Andreessen, an
undergraduate student at the
University of Illinois, helped
create the path-breaking
browser Mosaic.

1994: Andreessen co-founded a company,
now named Netscape Communications
Corporation, with James H. Clark, founder
of Silicon Graphics Inc.
Sitepal
Stage 1:Novelty or Developmental Stage
Rationale
Computer network impervious to
attack
DOD - ironically, no central
authority
Technology
Digital Communication
Packet Switching
Microprocessors
E-mail and bulletin boards
Digital communication
Packet switching
Microprocessor
Stage 2:
Entrepreneurial Develop.
1982: National Science Foundation
network
Rapid spread beyond government and
academic worlds
Other technological developments
Fiber optic cable
Commercialization of
Internet as a mass medium
Stage 3:
WWW – 1991 and graphic browsers
(Mosaic 1993) (Netscape 1994)
1993: multimedia capability on Net
Graphics, audio, video, streaming
Rapid growth rate
Companies seek to turn Net users into
consumers through ads and Web sites
E-commerce
MAPPING THE INTERNET:
four major mapping systems
COMMERICAL ISPs
WORLD WIDE WEB
BROWSERS
WEB SEARCH ENGINES and
DIRECTORIES
Google
OWNERSHIP ISSUES
ON THE INTERNET
Increasing convergence
of owners and players in
mass media industries
Players and companies
jockeying for position
Media mega-corporations
Computer hardware/software companies
Internet access and service providers
Phone and cable TV companies
Internet search engines, portals, and
Web browsers
TV networks
Promises for democracy
Wide accessibility for all citizens
Decentralized social network
Development from “bottom-up” rather than
“top-down”
Major involvement of amateurs
Massive sharing and storage of useful
information
Disadvantages
Increased circulation of “cyberspace litter”
(hoaxes, spam, chain e-mails)
Rooney remarks
Lack of editorial control for accuracy -->
proliferation of misinformation
Concerns about security, child protection,
hatemongering
Knowledge gap between users and those
without access (stats)