What is the Internet?
The Internet is “a network connecting many computer networks”. It is “a loose
association of thousands of networks and millions of computers across the world
that all work together to share information”. The Internet is based on an
addressing system and a communications protocol called TCP/IP (Transmission
Control Protocol/ Internet Protocol). The Internet was developed in the 1970s
to assist the U.S.
military and academic research. By 1990, it was still unknown to the general
public. By the end of 1995, millions of users with no affiliation to defense
institutions or universities claimed access to the Internet.
What
are the components of the Internet?
The Internet pack includes an electronic mail system (e-mail), file transfer,
bulletin boards and news groups, remote computer access (telnet) and the World
Wide Web (WWW) . The WWW enables navigation of internet sites through a
graphical interface, and is therefore considered the most important component
of the Internet.
History of the Internet
The Internet started as a program established in 1969 by the U.S. Department of
Defense called ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network), to insure a
secure communications network for organizations involved in defense-related
research. At length, researchers and academics in other fields began to benefit
from such network. Eventually the National Science Foundation (NSF) -which had
already established a similar network called NSF Net- took over much of the
TCP/IP technology from APRANET. In 1990, the U.S. government officially
discarded ARPANET and the NSF took over the management of the Internet
backbone. In 1995, the NSF withdrew and commercial providers –also referred to
as Internet Service Providers (ISP’s)- took control of whom the GTE, MCI,
Sprint, UUNet are the best known. They connect to each other and create a fast
“pipeline” that stretches across the U.S.A.,
extends to Europe, Japan, Asia and the whole world.
Internet and Cyberspace?
At present, the Internet and cyberspace are primarily associated terms and may
be regarded as “nearly synonymous terms”. Thus “cyberspace” may be defined as
“the artificial environment created by the linkage of computer networks through
telephone lines, i.e. the Internet.” A “cyber spatial environment” increases
the intimacy between people in remote places . The Internet indeed has helped
support such intimacy and its users are all part of this environment.
Role of the Internet in creating a Global
Village
“The Internet encourages the formation of virtual communities without hindrance
from national or geographical boundaries.” In addition, the Internet
facilitates the exercise of freedom of speech since it offers the general
public the tools to become publishers, which is an advantage not always
warranted by local governments. Nevertheless, these aspects of the Internet
have advantages and inconveniences, as follows:
Pros:
The Internet unites the remotest
regions, bringing people, languages, ideas, thoughts and opinions together. One
of the earliest views of the effect of electronic media was expressed by
Fedor Dostoyevsky in his novel The Brothers Karamazov (1879-80). He
wrote, “We are assured that the world is becoming more and more united, is
being formed into brotherly communion, by the shortening of distances, by the
transmitting of thoughts through the air.”
Cons:
The Internet causes widening
of the gaps between rich and poor. Those who are capable of using the
internet are usually the better educated and wealthier part of the population.
Besides, it reduces direct face to face socialization among the people as users
turn away from their television or radio sets to indulge into narrow communion
with others inhabiting the cyber spatial environment. Moreover, use of
the Internet could lead to a violation of civil and privacy rights, since the
Internet eases the act of tracking private interests and political beliefs.
Other dangers include the violation of intellectual property rights and the
extravagant exhibition of pornographic materials.
Future Views of the Internet
The Internet will likely absorb the functions of television, telephone and
conventional publishing, thus creating an “information superhighway”, as
paraphrased by Al Gore Jr. in 1992 -then a senator- in reference to a unified,
interactive system of electronic communication. There are plans for
establishing a second network that will be referred to as “Internet 2”. The
reason behind such plan is the traffic jam faced by the users of the current
Internet.
