The Internet

 

The internet… the web… the information superhighway. We've all heard of it, and most of us have used it. Some of us may spend a large proportion of our lives on it, hunting for information, chatting to friends, sending emails or even getting some work done!

 

But what is the internet, and what does it do?

 

A brief history

 

While the vast majority of internet users may only have been using the internet for a few years, the internet itself has been around for several decades. So what is it and where did it come from?

 

The internet can be described as a global network of networks. To understand this, think of networks that you personally are part of. Your family, for example, slots into a wider network – a ‘family tree’ of parents, siblings, cousins, grandparents etc.

 

As a student at Stow College, you are also part of a network of classes, departments, other colleges etc – take a few minutes to consider how this works, and the potential benefits of being part of a network:

 

 

 

 

 

 

A similar idea exists for computers – a computer on its own is useful – you can type reports, maintain accounts and draw pretty pictures – but a computer that is able to link up with other computers, share information and communicate electronically, is much, much more powerful.

 


Before the 1980s, very few people had access to computers. The computers that existed were huge – like the one pictured below – this contraption was the first machine to send email, in 1972.

The internet can be seen as an interconnected network with a backbone at the highest level. This is a central network which covers a whole country; Network Access Points (NAPs) provide points where ISPs can connect to the internet on a local level.

 


 

 


Alternatively, your computer may be part of a Local Area Network (LAN), e.g. a computer located within a college or university.

 

Most of the early internet computers were located within university campuses. In the late 1950s and 60s, the Cold War was at its height and the US and USSR were locked in a battle to be the first to develop new technologies. While the space race was a large part of this, universities were also involved in attempts to find scientific breakthroughs. ARPANET was developed from the late 1960s onwards by the US Department of Defense, initially linking a number of universities and government agencies to allow the sharing of information. In 1971, just 23 institutions were connected to this network. Ten years later, this had grown to several hundred, and the US military created a separate network for their own use.

 

At this point, the 'internet' was run by the government and access was strictly controlled and limited - of course, you also needed a computer, which few people had access to in the late 70s. In the mid-80s responsibility for the internet 'backbone' passed from the Department of Defense to the National Science Foundation, and ARPANET closed in 1989. The NSF continued the US-wide growth of the internet, while other local networks were also springing up. Private ISP companies started from the late 1980s, and the internet expanded rapidly in the mid 90s to the international phenomenon we know today.

 

The internet and the World Wide Web

 

Contrary to popular opinion, the internet and the 'world wide web' are not one and the same - the 'world wide web' is a tool for organising resources, which runs over the internet, along with other tools such as email. In practice, however, 'the internet', 'the net' and 'the web' are used interchangeably to mean the World Wide Web.

 

We will look in more detail at the organisation of the World Wide Web next week, including the use of search engines, and 'internet protocols' which make sure that all the worldwide internet users follow the same rules and codes to enable the sharing of information.

 

Exercise 1

 

The BBC run an excellent free course called 'Webwise'.

 

For a really good summary of the internet and how it works, go to www.bbc.co.uk/webwise.

 

We will dip into parts of this course during the this unit. For today, enter the web address above and click on online course > start > welcome > The Net. This summarises the main ideas we have outlined.

 

Exercise 2

 

Using the internet to find the appropriate information, complete the following questions:

 

Suggested sites:

 

www.wikipedia.org (hint: search for 'internet' or 'internet history')

 

http://www.sharpnet.co.uk/winter.shtml

 

 

  1. P________ S_______ is what commonly used method of exchanging information via the internet?

 

 

 

 

 

  1. Give three examples of ISPs available in the UK and detail some of the services that they provide:

 

 

 

  1. Who is/was Tim Berners-Lee?

 

 

 

 

 

  1. To the nearest hundred thousand, how many new users joined the internet between January and October 1991?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Remember that you can print out the page if you find it difficult to read from the screen, or if you want to keep a record to help you with revision.

 

 

Exercise 3

 

Go to http://socialscience.stow.ac.uk and click on IT & DTP > Internet Theory and Practice, then on 'Internet Crossword'. Try to complete this without your notes!