History of the Internet

Originally intended to share data between a few universities and government agencies, the Internet today allows connectivity from anywhere on earth and beyond—even ships at sea and in outer space.

The history of the Internet dates back to the early development of communication networks. The idea of a computer network intended to allow general communication among users of various computers has developed through a large number of stages. The melting pot of developments brought together the network of networks that we know as the Internet. This included both technological developments and the merging together of existing network infrastructure and telecommunication systems.

The infrastructure of the Internet spread across the globe to create the world wide network of computers we know today. It spread throughout the Western nations and then begged a penetration into the developing countries, thus creating both unprecedented worldwide access to information and communications and a digital divide in access to this new infrastructure. The Internet went on to fundamentally alter and affect the economy of the world.

In the fifties and early sixties, prior to the widespread inter-networking that led to the Internet, most communication networks were limited by their nature to only allow communications between the stations on the network. Some networks had gateways or bridges between them, but these bridges were often limited or built specifically for a single use. One prevalent computer networking method was based on the central mainframe method, simply allowing its terminals to be connected via long leased lines.

A fundamental pioneer in the call for a global network, J.C.R. Licklider, articulated the idea in his January 1960 paper, Man-Computer Symbiosis.

‘a network of such [computers], connected to one another by wide-band communication lines’ which provided ‘the functions of present-day libraries together with anticipated advances in information storage and retrieval and symbiotic functions. ‘ -J.C.R. Licklider

E-mail

Electronic mail (abbreviated ‘e-mail’ or, more commonly, ‘email’) is a store and forward method of composing, sending, storing, and receiving messages over electronic communication systems. The term ‘e-mail’ (as a noun or verb) applies both to the Internet e-mail system based on the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) and to intranet systems allowing users within one organization to e-mail each other. Often these workgroup collaboration organizations may use the Internet protocols for internal e-mail service.

E-mail predates the Internet; existing e-mail systems were a crucial tool in creating the Internet. The Compatible Time-Sharing System (CTSS) was begun at MIT in 1961. It allowed multiple users to log into the IBM 7094 from remote dial-up terminals, and to store files online on disk. This new ability encouraged users to share information in new ways. E-mail started in 1965 as a way for multiple users of a time-sharing mainframe computer to communicate.

E-mail was quickly extended to become network e-mail, allowing users to pass messages between different computers. The messages could be transferred between users on different computers by 1966. The ARPANET computer network made a large contribution to the evolution of e-mail. There is one report which indicates experimental inter-system e-mail transfers on it shortly after its creation, in 1969. Ray Tomlinson initiated the use of the @ sign to separate the names of the user and their machine in 1971. The ARPANET significantly increased the popularity of e-mail, and it became the killer app of the ARPANET.

As the utility and advantages of e-mail on the ARPANET became more widely known, the popularity of e-mail increased, leading to demand from people who were not allowed access to the ARPANET. Since not all computers or networks were directly inter-networked, e-mail addresses had to include the ‘route’ of the message, that is, a path between the computer of the sender and the computer of the receivers. E-mail could be passed this way between a number of networks, including the ARPANET, BITNET, and NSFNET.

In the mid 1970s it was becoming apparent that as computers decreased to the size that would fit on a desktop, they might become valuable tools for increasing organizational productivity. The problem was that no one had the vaguest idea about how to use a networked system of computers and workstations productively within the office environment.

In 1982 the White House adopted a prototype e-mail system from IBM called the Professional Office System, or PROFs for the National Security Council (NSC) staff. By April 1985, the system was fully operational within the NSC with home terminals for principals on the staff. In 1991, the first e-mail from space was sent from aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis, mission STS-43, using AppleLink running on a Macintosh Portable.

Internet café

An Internet cafe or cybercafé is a place where one can use a computer with Internet access for a fee, usually per hour or minute; sometimes one can have unmetered access with a pass for a day or month, etc. It may or may not serve as a regular cafe as well, with food and drinks being served.

The concept and name, Cybercafé, was invented at the beginning of 1994 by Ivan Pope. Commissioned to develop an internet event for an arts weekend at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London, Pope wrote a proposal outlining the concept of a cafe with internet access from the tables. The event was run over the weekend of March 12-13 1994 during the 'Towards the Aesthetics of the Future' event.

In June 1994, The Binary Cafe, Canada's first Internet cafe, opened in Toronto, Ontario. During the 5th International Symposium on Electronic Art, ISEA, in August 1994, an establishment called Comp Café operated in Helsinki, Finland, featuring both internet access and a robotic beer seller.

Inspired partly by the ICA event, a commercial establishment of this type, called Cyberia, was opened on September 1, 1994 in London, England. The first American Internet cafe, creatively named Internet Cafe, opened in early 1995 in the East Village neighborhood of New York City.

Internet cafes are located world-wide, and many people use them when travelling to access webmail and instant messaging services to keep in touch with family and friends. Apart from travellers, in many developing countries Internet cafes are the primary form of Internet access for citizens since a shared access model is more affordable than personal ownership of equipment.

There are also Internet kiosks – Internet access points in public places like public libraries, airport halls, sometimes just for brief use while standing. Many hotels, resorts, and cruise ships offer Internet access for the convenience of their guests; this can take various forms, such as in-room wireless access, or a web browser that uses the in-room television set for its display, or computer(s) that guests can use, either in the lobby or in a business center.

Internet cafes are a natural evolution of the traditional cafe. Cafes started as places for information exchange, and have always been used as places to read the paper, send postcards home, play traditional or electronic games, chat to friends, find out local information. Cafés have also been in the forefront of promoting new technologies.