404

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Introduction:
you don't understand the internet

If someone asked you what the internet was you would say two things.

First, how the fuck does this person not know what the internet is?

Second, “well, like, yeah, obviously I know what the internet is, but, like, I don’t know really how to explain it, but I definitely know what it is.”

There is a big difference between knowing what something is and understanding it. Everyone knows what the internet is (excluding the hypothetical person that just asked about it), but most people don’t understand it. It’s totally ok though, because I’m about to teach you.

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part one:
where did the internet come from?

In the beginning the internet was used to exchange information This was 1967. A network called

APRANET

The Advanced Research Projects Agency Network was an early packet switching network and the first network to implement the protocol suite TCP/IP. Both technologies became the technical foundation of the Internet.

made it possible to send information from one computer to another. It was mainly for science stuff.

In 1973, the development of

Internet Protocol

A set of rules governing the format of data sent over the Internet or other network.

helped expand the size of the network.ARPANET was made international that year with one node in Norway and another in London. Below is ARPA Network Logical Map. It’s a map of the entire internet at the time.

For the next 20 years, ARPANET will be passed over to a new company almost too many times to count. They kept changing the name of what it was called and most of the development is not very exciting. If you want to get into the nitty gritty of what happened in those 20 years you can read it here, otherwise, here are some milestones and internet firsts:

1972

E-Mail

Messages distributed by electronic means from one computer user to one or more recipients via a network.

is introduced (by Ray Tomlinson)
1982 “Internet” becomes a word
1983

Domain Name System

The system by which Internet domain names and addresses are tracked and regulated. Also referred to as DNS.

is created
1985 Symbolics.com is the first registered domain name
1986 A thing called

NSFNET

The National Science Foundation Network (NSFNET) was a program of coordinated, evolving projects sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF) beginning in 1985 to promote advanced research and education networking in the United States.

connects computers to other computers.
1988

Internet Worm

An Internet worm is type of malicious software (malware) that self-replicates and distributes copies of itself to its network. These independent virtual viruses spread through the Internet, break into computers, and replicate without intervention from and unbeknownst to computer users.

breaks 10% of the internet for a little
1990 The

first search engine

The first search engine created was Archie, created by Alan Emtage, a student at McGill University in Montreal.

is created and no, it’s not google
1992 “surfing the internet” becomes a thing that people say

Then it’s 1993. There are 600 websites on the internet (which at the time seemed like a lot). In 1985 when NSFNET was created, it was connecting 2,000 computers. In 1993 that number had grown to 2 million. That’s a lot.

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part two:
what did the internet turn into?

The internet in 1993 is not yet what it is today, but it’s getting there. Many of the milestones past 1993 aren’t about what’s developed for the internet but about what’s developed on the internet. People begin to realize that the internet is a great place to store information, not just exchange it. They also realize that the internet is becoming more and more accessible to the average person. In only a matter of years, the internet goes from a foreign and confusing concept to part of everyday life.

By 1994 the internet is becoming so widely used that you no longer have to be a big company or corporation to create a website. This is when the first blogs hit the web.

This brings us to 1996 when

The Internet Archive

The Internet Archive is a San Francisco–based nonprofit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". Founded by Brewster Kahle in May 1996, the Archive is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit operating in the United States.

is founded.

Craig Newmark creates Craigslist in 1999. This completely revolutionizes classifieds by making them readily available all over the globe.

In 2001

The Creative Commons

Creative Commons (CC) is an American non-profit organization devoted to expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share.

are built. So is Wikipedia. In 2 years, Wikipedia passes its first 100,000 articles.

While the internet was initially created to pass data back and forth it rapidly became a giant library of knowledge and information. Obviously there were other big developments over this time, however, those five years became quintessential in remodeling the internet into what it is today.

Over the next decade and a half websites like Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, and literally every other site you can think of, were created.

It’s extremely difficult to count how many websites exist on the internet. However, it’s estimated that are well over 1 billion and that number is increasing every second. Additionally, it’s estimated that around 3.2 billion people use the internet. That’s half of the world’s population. Which brings me to you.

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Part three:
what does this have to do with me?

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Part four:
now what?