The Internet: Today's Communication Revolution

1763 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Speech about the history of the internet

The Internet: Today's Communication Revolution

In the past decade, the Internet has emerged as the newest of communication media. It gives users quick access to information from around the world. People can chat with friends, read up to the minute news, and find samples of other media, such as music, movies, and books. However, the Internet required the construction of a considerable foundation before it became the information clearinghouse that is today.

It is difficult to pick a particular event in history and say “It all began with...” because of the numerous technologies that the Internet descends from. One could certainly trace the beginning of this project back to the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA). Or, it could be traced back even further, to the telegraph. Like the Internet, the telegraph passed only the binary “on” and “off” signals. It relied on a code used by both the sending and receiving parties.

However, the Internet makes vast improvements over the telegraphic system. It replaced human operators with machines like switches, routers, and hubs. These do the work of the telegraph operator in substantially less time with greater accuracy. Also, while the telegraph system relied on circuit switching, the Internet utilizes a better method, known as packet switching. A circuit switched connection dedicates one communication channel to each exchange of information. However, packet switching breaks messages up into smaller units, which are distributed through multiple channels. The networking devices decide on which lines are the fastest, and will send the majority of packets over the fastest line. As more packets use this line, it will become more congested. As a result, packets will go to other lines tha...

... middle of paper ...

...ternet Relay Chat (IRC) system to the nearly ubiquitous AOL Instant Messenger (AIM). IRC's main focus is on chat rooms hosted on multiple networks of servers. While it allows private user to user chat, many major IRC server networks maintain tens of thousands of public rooms at any given time. Most people use AIM to send private messages to friends or family.

Other communication revolutions that have taken place include the file sharing phenomenon. Starting with applications like Napster, users were able to share files with a gigantic group of peers connected to the same service. With more advanced programs like Kazaa, users could trade more than music, and more effectively avoid the reach of groups who might prosecute them.

Works Cited:

PBS Online. http://www.pbs.org/opb/nerds2.0.1/index.html

USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/money/dotcoms/dot039.htm

Show More
Related

  • Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451

    1034 Words  | 3 Pages

    Imagine a society where owning books is illegal, and the penalty for their possession—to watch them combust into ashes. Ray Bradbury’s novel, Fahrenheit 451, illustrates just such a society. Bradbury wrote his science fiction in 1951 depicting a society of modern age with technology abundant in this day and age—even though such technology was unheard of in his day. Electronics such as headphones, wall-sized television sets, and automatic doors were all a significant part of Bradbury’s description of humanity. Human life styles were also predicted; the book described incredibly fast transportation, people spending countless hours watching television and listening to music, and the minimal interaction people had with one another. Comparing those traits with today’s world, many similarities emerge. Due to handheld devices, communication has transitioned to texting instead of face-to-face conversations. As customary of countless dystopian novels, Fahrenheit 451 conveys numerous correlations between society today and the fictional society within the book.

    Read More

  • The Key Differences between Whigs and Democrats?

    1417 Words  | 3 Pages

    There were no sectional differences between the Democratic Party and the Whig Party, but there were some cultural differences. Whig party operated from the early 1830s to the mid-1850s. The Whigs approved the authority and the power of the Congress over the presidency, favored a program of economic protectionism and modernization; they also supported active social reform. According to the Johnson County Community College’s historians, the name "Whig," which Revolutionary patriots also used to signify their opposition to King George III, was chosen to echo the American Whigs of 1776 and meant to convey; and throughout their twenty-year history, fought for independence, and because "Whig" was then a widely recognized label of choice for people who saw themselves as opposing tyranny. According to professor Michael F. Holt , the Whig party combined Anti-masons and National Republicans as well as two different groups of southern anti-Jackson people who had supported Henry Clay and his policy in 1832 because they considered National Republicans' nationalistic economic program as an unconstitutional illegality of states' rights. The issue that united anti-Jackson men in the Whig party in 1834 was their common displeasure at Jackson's executive order of September 1833 removing federal deposits from the Bank of the United States. They believed in the strong government and interference in the national economy. That’s why Whigs defended Henry Clay’s vision of the American system, which involved existence o...

    Read More

  • Blake's Writing on Chimney Sweepers

    1186 Words  | 3 Pages

    When Blake was inspired to write about these boys, their barbaric lives were not only common knowledge, but accepted. Throughout the passing years, however, history has lost sight of the horror they faced everyday. Therefore, familiarity with such details does help the reader to see more clearly Blake's indictment of a society that allows children to be subjected to almost unbelievable wretched conditions, and it also gives more force and point to the realism and imagery. (Nurmi, 15) History reveals that children usually began these lives at the age of 6 or 7 or even earlier. The job tormented their small bodies, leaving them to die with deformed ankles, twisted kneecaps and spines, or with "chimney sweeps cancer." The boys began their days long before sunrise until about noon when they "cried the streets" for more business. When it was time to return these young boys carried heavy bags of soot to the cellars and attics where they slept. Even the task of sleeping was torture. The boys owned nothing and were given nothing, leaving them with only the bags of soot that had swept for a bed.

    Read More

  • The Chimney Sweeper: Dispair

    1217 Words  | 3 Pages

    Though this poem mainly describes the suffering of these children, William Blake wrote another poem also titled “The Chimney Sweeper” where he described how as these chimney-sweepers grew older, they began to realize how they were taken advantage of and how the promises of the Church were all just a big hoax. From these two poems, it can be inferred that Blake intentionally pointed out and revealed the malfeasance of the Church and society and how they exploited younger children due to their gullibility and innocence solely for the economy without having any regard for the children’s lives.

    Read More

  • Is the Internet a New Medium?

    1109 Words  | 3 Pages

    The history of the internet shows that the internet is not a new medium. The internet was initially created in the 1960's to as a way for the United States to stay connected in case of a nuclear fallout due to the possible consequences of the Cold War. F...

    Read More

  • The Chimney Sweeper Poems

    1209 Words  | 3 Pages

    William Blake presents two poems both titled The Chimney Sweeper, but both have a different perspective. The first poem that Blake wrote titled The Chimney Sweeper comes from Blake’s book Songs of Innocence and comes from the perspective of an innocent and ignorant mind. The second poem titled The Chimney Sweeper, was included in Blake’s book Songs of Experience and has a matured perspective. Blake utilizes both versions of The Chimney Sweeper in order to present his social critique of society. I believe that William Blake’s Songs of Experience version of The Chimney Sweeper presents social criticism better than Songs of Innocence version of The Chimney Sweeper because Songs of Experience articulates an outspoken and direct criticism of child labour while Songs of Innocence criticism is more implicit.

    Read More

  • Sociological Criticism on William Blake’s Poetry

    1509 Words  | 4 Pages

    LaGuardia, Cheryl. "WILLIAM BLAKE: SONGS OF INNOCENCE AND OF EXPERIENCE." Library Journal 128.9 (2003): 140. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 13 July 2011.

    Read More

  • Privacy Issues in Social Media

    1290 Words  | 3 Pages

    ( qtd. in Boyd, Ellison). On the other hand, a timeline display of the history shows that in 1969 “CompuServe was the first major commercial Internet service provider for the public in the United States.” In 1971, “the first email was delivered.” I agree that the first step to the whole explosion began with the email. Through email, people were primarily communicating with each other through the internet and having the ability to use the Short Message Service (SMS) to be more private when talking with one another.

    Read More

  • Informative Essay: The Benefits Of Social Media

    498 Words  | 1 Pages

    Before social media existed, people communicated by telephone lines and radio signals (Drew Hendricks) Telephone lines and radio signals enable to communicate at long distances (Drew Hendricks). In the 20th century technology became more advanced (Drew Hendricks) In the 1940s, computers were invented. Scientists and engineers worked together to create networks (Drew Hendricks). This leads to Internet. CompuServe developed in 1960’s. CompuServe was the first internet service that allows you to exchange emails. (Shea Bennett) It also allows you to share files and access news (Drew Hendricks). CompuServe was easy to access because computers were common in 1980’s (Drew Hendricks) This lead to social media.

    Read More

  • Hunger And Malnutrition In The United Nations

    930 Words  | 2 Pages

    The dictionary definition of Malnutrition is “lack of proper nutrition; inadequate or unbalanced nutrition.” The prevalence of malnutrition in the world among children is “about 47 percent of children under five years of age are chronically malnourished.” There has recently been a decrease in the rate of children who are chronically malnourished, “Between 1994 and 2008, the prevalence of children who are malnourished declined from 35.2% to 27.2%.” These rates have decreased because of the multiple plans that the United Nations have made and executed in order to benefit the world hunger

    Read More

  • The Revolution of Social Media

    1400 Words  | 3 Pages

    Society has over time, developed many means of communication starting with the word of mouth to writing letters, the telephone, and now the internet. The internet has developed its own form of communication, which is a social network. Social networks have created a way for people across the world to communicate with each other at the same time, all in one place, thus making it the internet the reason behind the revolution known as Social Network.

    Read More

  • Evolution of Mass Communications

    1147 Words  | 3 Pages

    The evolution of mass communications has gone through major developments; from etching the beginnings of an alphabet into a rock the size of a standard dinner table to letting a computer recognize words spoken into a speaker as it types away what it hears. Dating back to around 1700 B.C. when the first alphabet was said to come into existence, society has come far in different fields of communications. Nothing made as large of an impact in the world of communications as the revolution of the Internet. Although the impact has been large, the Internet was certainly not the first to revolutionize communications. When many cities started to arise and become industrial-based, there became a need for more technological advancements. When there was one change in the way of living, a domino effect occurred and many more advancements and developments took place. The mass communications of writing, printing, mass media and entertainment have all influenced how we use the Internet and new technology developments today.

    Read More

  • The History Of The Internet

    778 Words  | 2 Pages

    Term Paper: The History of the Internet      The Internet began like most things in our society, that is to say that the government started it. The Internet started out as an experimental military network in the 1960s. Doug Engelbart prototypes an "Online System" (NLS) which does hypertext browsing, editing, email, and so on. The Internet is a worldwide broadcasting resource used for distributing information and a source for interaction between people on their computers.      In 1973, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) initiated a research program to investigate techniques and technologies for interlinking packet networks of various kinds.

    Read More

  • Essay On Uses Of Computer

    493 Words  | 1 Pages

    The Internet is one of the greatest inventions of humanity. It is a massive network of computers, each with the ability to access any of the others. Ungodly amounts of information can be found on the Internet. It is the ultimate form of media, a combination of newspaper, radio, and as the average bandwidth is increasing, television. Using

    Read More

  • The Impact Of The Internet On Communication

    1003 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...ely in real-time. When logged into a chat session, you "converse" by typing messages that are instantly sent to other chat participants. One of the most popular IRC programs is ‘mIRC'.

    Read More

More about The Internet: Today's Communication Revolution

Open Document