Download History of the Internet

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The first recorded description of modern networking was a
series of memos written by J.C.R. Licklider of MIT in August
1962 discussing his "Galactic Network" concept.
He envisioned a globally interconnected set of computers
through which everyone could quickly access data and
programs from any site.
In spirit, the concept was very much like today’s Internet.
Licklider was the first head of the computer research program
at DARPA, starting in October 1962.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is an
agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for
the development of new technology for use by the military.
 DARPA has been responsible for funding the development of many
technologies which have had a major impact on the world,
including computer networking, as well as NLS, which was both the
first hypertext system, and an important precursor to the
contemporary ubiquitous graphical user interface (GUI).
 Early networking technology was developed in the 1950s in response
to Cold War threats from the Soviet Union.
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Source: Wikipedia
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The (D)ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network)
created by ARPA of the United States Department of Defense
during the Cold War, was the world's first operational packet
switching network, and the predecessor of the global Internet.
Due to Kleinrock's early development of packet switching theory
and his focus on analysis, design and measurement, his Network
Measurement Center at UCLA was selected to be the first node on
the ARPANET.
In October 1972 Bob Kahn organized a large, very successful
demonstration of the ARPANET at the International Computer
Communication Conference (ICCC). This was the first public
demonstration of this new network technology to the public.
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Leonard Kleinrock at MIT published the first paper on packet switching
theory in July 1961 and the first book on the subject in 1964.
Packet switching is a network communications method that groups all
transmitted data, irrespective of content, type, or structure into suitablysized blocks, called packets. T
he network over which packets are transmitted is a shared network
which routes each packet independently from all others and allocates
transmission resources as needed. T
he principal goals of packet switching are to optimize utilization of
available link capacity and to increase the robustness of
communication.
When traversing network adapters, switches and other network nodes,
packets are buffered and queued, resulting in variable delay and
throughput, depending on the traffic load in the network.
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At the same time that the Internet technology was being
experimentally validated and widely used amongst a subset of
computer science researchers, other networks and networking
technologies were being pursued.
The usefulness of computer networking - especially electronic mail demonstrated by DARPA and Department of Defense contractors
on the ARPANET was not lost on other communities and disciplines,
so that by the mid-1970s computer networks had begun to spring up
wherever funding could be found for the purpose.
With the exception of BITNET and USENET, these early networks
(including ARPANET) were purpose-built - i.e., they were intended
for, and largely restricted to, closed communities of scholars; there
was hence little pressure for the individual networks to be
compatible and, indeed, they largely were not.
On October 24, 1995, the Federal Networking Council (FNC)
unanimously passed a resolution defining the term Internet. This
definition was developed in consultation with members of the
internet and intellectual property rights communities.
 RESOLUTION: “Internet" refers to the global information system that –
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1. is logically linked together by a globally unique address space based on the
Internet Protocol (IP) or its subsequent extensions/follow-ons;
2. is able to support communications using the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet
Protocol (TCP/IP) suite or its subsequent extensions/follow-ons, and/or other IPcompatible protocols; and
3. provides, uses or makes accessible, either publicly or privately, high level services
layered on the communications and related infrastructure described herein.
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Personally, I began using the Internet in 1992, as part of UseNet.
At that time, there was no GUI. Instead, you had to type commands
at a DOS Prompt :\>
I participated in various group discussions about literature (called
“listserves”).
The Internet become widespread in 1995.
AOL was the most successful ISP (Internet Service Provider), although
they have been eclipsed by ATT, Comcast, and Verizon.
The "dot-com bubble" was a speculative bubble covering roughly 1998–
2001 (with a climax on March 10, 2000 with the NASDAQ peaking at
5132.52) during which stock markets in Western nations saw their equity
value rise rapidly from growth in the more recent Internet sector and
related fields.
 The period was marked by the founding (and, in many cases,
spectacular failure) of a group of new Internet-based companies
commonly referred to as dot-coms. Companies were seeing their stock
prices shoot up if they simply added an "e-" prefix to their name and/or
a ".com" to the end, which one author called "prefix investing".
 A combination of rapidly increasing stock prices, market confidence
that the companies would turn future profits, individual speculation in
stocks, and widely available venture capital created an environment in
which many investors were willing to overlook traditional metrics such as
price to earnings ratios in favor of confidence in technological
advancements.
Source: Wikipedia
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Google
 Yahoo
 Microsoft
 Cisco
 Amazon
 Intel
 eBay
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The most pressing question for the future of the Internet is not how
the technology will change, but how the process of change and
evolution itself will be managed.
With the success of the Internet has come a proliferation of
stakeholders - stakeholders now with an economic as well as an
intellectual investment in the network.
We now see, in the debates over control of the domain name
space and the form of the next generation IP addresses, a struggle
to find the next social structure that will guide the Internet in the
future.
The form of that structure will be harder to find, given the large
number of concerned stake-holders.
If the Internet stumbles, it will not be because we lack for
technology, vision, or motivation. It will be because we cannot set a
direction and march collectively into the future.
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The Internet Society (ISOC):
(http://www.isoc.org/internet/history/brief.shtml#Timeline)
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Wikipedia