History of the internet by www.livinginternet.com

The assigned reading of this first week is about the history of the internet. The reading was composed of 6 little readings each presenting an aspect of the history. All readings are interconnected through historical points; therefore I will not summarize them one by one but will condense them together. The origins of electronic correspondence with the visions of Vannevar Bush are discussed; M. Bush also envisioned the MEMEX, which stands for memory extension, which was an idea that started the desktop presentation that we use now on our computers: the ability to access all books, records, communication and any other files by simple inputs. Norbert Wiener is the man who invented cybernetics, the theoretical study of communication and control processes in electronic systems, which inspired a whole generation to see computers as a means to extend human capabilities. The SAGE program (Semi-Automatic Ground Environment) originated at the MIT, it is a started in 1954 research for the US air force “to develop a continental air defense system to protect against a nuclear bomber attack from the Soviet Union”.
We also learn about the first network created, ARPANET, created by the ARPA agency. The ARPA agency was created in 1957 as a reaction to the soviet launch of Sputnik1 which was interpreted by the Americans as a temporary lost in a race to the monopole of technology and a threat to a permanent exposition to bombs being launched from the space. This reaction was successful since the 1st US satellite was created under 18 months. ARPA is a program that was developed by the government but was later achieved in collaboration with famous universities, which would help for research and testing. The ideas of Artificial intelligence emerged in 1956, one year before ARPA’s beginning. Scientists knew that the rapid growth in electronic capacities and the falling prices would soon enough equally balance the intelligence of machines and humans. The prediction could just not be accurately estimated.

I like this history lesson because I find it is interesting to know the origins of a medium of communication I use everyday. How people envisioned such a process and how people could believe in computers at a time like that. Computers are such an important part of our lives nowadays and I believe it is good to know how they originated and how they developed in order to stop taking things for granted.

http://www.livinginternet.com/i/ii.htm