Joe Kirkpatrick

CIS 299

The technology revolution is upon us. In the past, there have been many triumphs in the world of technology. To this date, people are able to communicate over thousands of miles with the greatest of ease. The Internet connects nearly 400 million users worldwide and is an essential part of how we work, play, communicate, and conduct commerce. We use the Internet in ways that seem unimaginable. The term "Internet" refers to the global information system that is logically linked together by a globally unique address space based on the Internet Protocol. In other words, it is able to support communications using the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP). Computers speak to one another and send information back and forth, which is accomplished, by sending and receiving electronic impulses and decoding them into messages. In order to communicate with one another the computers are linked up in a network. They are then able to access information from thousands of other computers. The network acts like one large computer storing information in various places, rather than one physical place. Users of the Internet access this big network to get and provide information. Internet technology allows users to surf the World Wide Web, receiving information or sending e-mail, thereby sharing information.

The Internet was first conceived in the early 1960s. Under the leadership of the Department of Defense's Advanced Research Project Agency, it grew from a paper architecture into a small network (ARPANET) intended to promote the sharing of super-computers amongst researchers in the United States. Through the next couple years there were talks of how this network could come into the corporate world and in 1969 researchers at four US campuses created the first hosts of the ARPANET, connecting Stanford Research Institute, UCLA, University of California at Santa Barbara, and the University of Utah. The ARPANET was a success from the very beginning. Although originally designed to allow scientists to share data and access remote computers, email quickly becomes the more popular application. The ARPANET became a high-speed digital post office as people use it to collaborate on research projects and discuss topics of various interests. In 1971, the ARPANET grew to 23 hosts connecting universities and government research centers around the country. In 1972, the Internet Working Group became the first of several standards, which set entities to govern the growing network. Vinton Cerf, Senior Vice-President at MCI, was elected the first chairman of the INWG, and later became known as a "Father of the Internet." The ARPANET went international in 1973 with connections to University College in London, England and the Royal Radar Establishment in Norway.
From 1974 to 1981, the public began to get its first vague hint of how networked computers could be used in daily life as the commercial version of the ARPANET went online. The ARPANET started to move away from its military and research roots and in 1974, Bolt, Beranek and Newman opened Telnet, the first commercial version of the ARPANET. In 1981, ARPANET had 213 hosts and a new host was being added approximately once every 20 days.
From 1982 to 1987 Bob Kahn, President of the Corporation for National Research Initiatives, and Cerf became essential members of a team, which created TCP/IP, the common language of all Internet computers. For the first time it seemed as though the loose collection of networks which made up the ARPANET were seen as an "internet", and the Internet, as we know it today, was born. The mid-80s marked a boom in the personal computer and super-minicomputer industries. The combination of inexpensive desktop machines and powerful, network-ready servers allowed many companies to join the Internet for the first time. Corporations begin to use the Internet to communicate with each other and with their customers. In 1982, the term "Internet" was used for the first time. By 1984, the number of Internet hosts exceeded 1,000, by 1987, the number exceeded 10,000, and by 1990, the number exceeded 300,000.
By 1988, the Internet was an essential tool for communications, however it also began to create concerns about privacy and security in the digital world. New words, such as "hacker," "cracker" and "electronic break-in", were created. These new worries were dramatically demonstrated on November 1, 1988 when a malicious program called the "Internet Worm" temporarily disabled approximately 6,000 of the 60,000 Internet hosts. This prompted the formation of the Computer Emergency Response Team in 1988 and it was their job to address security concerns raised by the Worm.
In 1993, corporations wishing to use the Internet faced a serious problem within commercial network traffic and was banned from the National Science Foundation are NSFNET, the backbone of the Internet. However, in 1991 the NSF lifts the restriction on commercial use, clearing the way for the age of electronic commerce.
In addition, in 1991 at the University of Minnesota, a team led by computer programmer Mark MaCahill releases "gopher," the first point-and-click way of navigating the files of the Internet. Originally designed to ease campus communications, gopher was freely distributed on the Internet. 1991 is also the year in which Tim Berners-Lee, working at CERN in Switzerland, posted the first computer code of the World Wide Web in a relatively innocuous newsgroup, "alt.hypertext." The ability to combine words, pictures, and sounds on Web pages excited many computer programmers who saw the potential for publishing information on the Internet in a way that can be as easy as using a word processor.
Marc Andreesen and a group of student programmers at NCSA, the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, located on the campus of University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign eventually developed a graphical browser for the World Wide Web called Mosaic and by 1993 it becomes the first graphics-based Web browser.
By 1993 traffic on the NSF backbone network exceeded one trillion bytes per month, and the first audio and video broadcasts took place over a portion of the Internet known as the "MBONE." Today, more than one million hosts are now part of the Internet and it expands at a 341,634% annual growth rate.
In 1995, NSFNET reverted to a research project, leaving the Internet in commercial hands. The Web now comprises the bulk of Internet traffic. James Gosling and a team of programmers at Sun Microsystems released an Internet programming language called Java, which radically alters the way applications and information can be retrieved, displayed, and used over the Internet.
The Internet celebrated its 25th anniversary in 1996 with the military strategies that influenced its birth becoming historical footnotes. Today, approximately 40 million people are connected to the Internet. More than one billion dollars per year changes hands at Internet shopping malls, and Internet related companies like Netscape. Users in almost 150 countries around the world are now connected to the Internet with the number of computer hosts approaching 10 million. Within 30 years, the Internet has grown from a Cold War concept for controlling the tattered remains of a post-nuclear society to the Information Superhighway. Just as the railroads of the 19th century enabled the Machine Age that revolutionized the society of the time, the Internet takes us into the Information Age and profoundly affects the world in which we live.
In present day people are telecommuting over the Internet, allowing them to choose where to live based on quality of life, not proximity to work. Many cities view the Internet as a solution to their clogged highways and fouled air. Schools use the Internet as a vast electronic library, with untold possibilities. Doctors use the Internet to consult with colleagues half a world away. The Internet even offers a single Global Village and possibly threatens to create a second class citizenship among those without access. As a new generation grows up as accustomed to communicating through a keyboard as in person, life on the Internet will become an increasingly important part of life on Earth. The Age of the Internet has arrived.

Another good use of the Internet is within the education system. The best method for improving educational standards is to utilize every tool available, including state-of-the-art technology. Computers and the Internet have expanded the way in which information can be delivered to the students of today. Today's networking technologies provide a valuable opportunity to practice new learning techniques. Educators are discovering that computers are facilitating learning. Computer based communications, or Telecommunications can offer many educational opportunities, therefore, educators will need to adapt current teaching methods to incorporate this new media into the classroom. Computers have made a fundamental impact in most industries, providing a competitive advantage that has come to be essential to many businesses. Therefore, schools must also use technology to improve the educational process. School systems often consider purchasing a computer network, and justify its purchase by applying it to routine administrative tasks, such as attendance records and grading. While these tasks are very important, they only show a small part of what technology can do for a school. Technology must go further than simply keeping attendance; it must focus on keeping students interested and productive. Since computers and the Internet have expanded in such a way in which education can be delivered to students, it is currently possible to engage in "distance education" through the Internet. Distance education involves audio and video links between teachers and students in remote areas. Video conferencing allows groups to communicate with each other. Desktop video conferencing promises to bring students together from geographic and cultural distances, face to face via computer. Not only will the teacher talk to the students, but also the students will be able to interact with each other. This will make students more interested and fascinated with learning. Not only does the Internet and video conferencing help education, but also new programs designed for educational purposes are being developed. Dictionaries, encyclopedias and atlases that a student can access from his own computer can be a definite advantage. For example, instead of looking for a particular country and simply finding out where it is in a regular atlas, one can type in the name of that country and not only will find where it is faster, but will obtain more information about that particular country and also more current info Most educational boards should be open to any new idea that technology has to offer. It would not be fair for a student in a particular city to receive a better education than another student in a different city. The Internet is not intended to replace teachers, but is there to serve students to make tedious tasks easier. Therefore, the Internet should be available to every student, wherever they may live. In doing this, it not only needs the support of teachers and educators, but it also requires support from communities. However, the Internet can not work by itself. Teachers must take a position in designing a tech-powered classroom curriculum, devoting time to become familiar with the new available resources. The internet is able to help students in a variety of ways. Teachers can now post homework assignments and contact information so parents can have a constant link to their children’s education. By making learning more enjoyable, students will want to learn and will not see education as such a difficult responsibility.

No matter the negatives, the Internet is among the best inventions of this Nation or the World. I would hate to see how we would be without it. Information is what keeps technology moving and the Internet is the ultimate resource of information.