Society's Benefits From The Internet

Before the invention of the internet, we would have to call one store after another to try to get the best price on a major purchase. When we did buy something, it was not from the convenience of our own home. We stood in line at the bank during “bankers’ hours”. As for finding information, we either did not find the information we needed or did so only through great effort and expense. We also were more isolated as individuals because of the barriers of time and distance. On the whole, it is clear that the internet has benefited society by allowing for easier communication and access to data. In particular, communication and access to data has been eased through the use of: the various forms of: networking; the web; and browsers.

Networking is one of the main ways the internet has benefitted society in its quest for easier communication and access to more data. Through networking, users such as researchers and professors can share files in order to collaborate on a project. An example of such collaboration can be found in the Human Genome Project. For this project, international scientists and researchers utilized each other’s data in order to “map”, or determine the gene sequence, of an individual’s DNA and thereby boost efforts to find cures for particular diseases.

The first instance of networking was in August of 1962 when J.C.R. Licklider of MIT described what was called a “Universal Network” concept (Cerf). The Universal Network was to be a globally interconnected set of computers through which everyone could quickly access data and programs from any location. In essence, the concept was very much like the internet of today. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) expanded the Universal Network con...

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...as benefitted and likely will continue to benefit from advancements made to the internet in the forms of e-mailing, online shopping, networking and, very likely, many other innovations we have yet to begin to imagine.

Works Cited

Cerf, Vinton. A Brief History of the Internet. Internet Society, 28 Nov. 2005. Web. 11 November 2011.

Fensel, Dieter. Spinning The Semantic Web : Bringing The World Wide Web To Its Full Potential. MIT Press, 2005. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 8 Dec. 2011.

Mediati, Nick. "Browser Blowout." PC World 28.9 (2010): 82. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 8 Dec. 2011.

Pagani, Margherita. Encyclopedia Of Multimedia Technology And Networking. IGI Global, 2005. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 8 Dec. 2011.

Young, Margaret Levine. Internet : The Complete Reference. McGraw-Hill Professional, 2005. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 8 Dec. 2011.