What is the Internet?

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.