The Internet Impact

The Internet Impact

Trent S. Shaw

University of Phoenix

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to show the impact the internet has had on our personal lives and the world. The internet has woven a common thread through not only the business and corporation world but in our daily lives. We will look at experiences that have made the internet a vital aspect in our ability to gain access to information, communication, and investigation. The internet has grown over the last ten years, creating new words and terms as well as new human disorders. The internet has been the most significant technological advancement this country and world have seen over the last few decades.

The Internet Impact

The internet, which was first referred to as inter-networking, started in the early 1960s, was limited to communications between stations created on a network. Later on, these networks developed gateways between a single user and a central mainframe or database which allowed users to interconnect documents and files to be shared with other organizations on a limited basis. The invention of the telephone, radio, and computer set the stage for mass communication capabilities. Today, terminology likes http://www.google.com and shawts@email.phoenix.edu have become commonplace with friends, family members, and business workers. In my opinion, the internet has grown to be the single-most important technological invention in the last 50 years.

First envisioned by J.C.R. Licklider of MIT, he saw the need for global communications where people could access information on any site. "In 1960, Licklider published his groundbreaking work "Man Computer Symbiosis." The main idea of the paper was that computers should be developed with the goal "to enable men and computers to cooperate in making decisions and controlling complex situations without inflexible dependence on predetermined programs" (Licklider, 1960) (Griffin no year given). In later years, the RAND Corporation for the United States Air Force, MIT, and NPL were all working on similar projects, neither one knowing the others were working on similar projects. RAND Corporation's original brief was presented to the U.S. Air Force as means of communicating with command and control in terms of survivability in the case of enemy attacks. In 1965, the first internet connection was made between two computers by Thomas Merrill; one computer was in Massachusetts and the other in California.

The internet experienced its most significant advancements in the late 1980s. In 1989, The World, a telephone company in Boston, became the first commercial provider of dial-up access. In the year 2000, the use of cellular phones, PDAs, mp3 players, and home computers connecting via the internet is routine. In the last ten years, the ability to access information has become easier. There are search engines such as Google.com which enables one to research and find information on any given topic. Another website, eBay.com allows one to browse for items and shop online. Also, one can access mapquest.com to get detailed directions to almost any address in the world. Information on world history can be accessed from the Library of Congress with just a few keystrokes. Electronic mail, e-mail, is