The Internet and The Development of Computer Networks

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The Internet and The Development of Computer Networks

The Internet is the name for a group of worldwide information resources. These resources are so vast as to be well beyond the comprehension of a single human being. "Not only is there no one who understands all of the Internet, there is no one who even understands most of the Internet" (Harley 2). The Internet is often thought of as a computer network, or sometimes a group of computer networks connected to one another. The computer networks are simply the medium that carries the information. The beauty and utility of the Internet lie in the information itself that is being transmitted.

The Internet has undergone a remarkable transformation since its early days. The original Internet was a low-speed, text-based network used to connect a few government sites to the research and defense contracting community. The Department of Defense began a project known as ARPAnet (Advanced Research Project Agency Network) back in the late 1960's, starting the first internet. It was designed by the network architects to interconnect government computers with defense contractors (Banta 2). The design of the network was such that no one computer system was dependent upon the functioning of any of the other computer systems. If any one computer network node was destroyed, such as in a nuclear attack, the rest of the network would continue to operate (Banta 2).

"In the 1970s, the Internet began to be interconnected with large universities and research organizations" (Banta 2). The type of information going across the Internet began to change from that of being primarily government oriented to that of research oriented. During the 1980s, more universities and government contractors began u...

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... tremendous and is almost geometrical in nature (Kantor 1-4). With more and more people connecting through American On-line, CompuSereve, Prodigy, and local ISPs, growth is expected to continue to increase at an outstanding rate. It has caused change and adaptation in almost all walks of life, from grade school students to corporate chairpersons. And its size and impact on the world will only become larger.

Bibliography:

Works Cited

Banta, Glen. "Internet Pipe Schemes." October 1996. http://www.internetworld.com/print/monthly/1996/10/schemes.html.

Hahn, Harley. Internet Complete Reference. Osborn McGraw-Hill. Berkeley, CA. 1994.

Kantor, Andrew. "Off the Charts The Internet 1996." December 1996. http://www.internetworld.com/print/monthly/1996/12/charts.html.

Pfaffenberger, Bayan. Internet in Plain English. MIS:Press. NewYork, NY. 1994.

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