The whole Internet user's guide and catalog
The whole Internet user's guide and catalog
The Internet complete reference
The Internet complete reference
Internet (Unleashed)
Where Wizards Stay up Late: The Origins of the Internet
Where Wizards Stay up Late: The Origins of the Internet
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The Internet is an international, cooperative computer network of networks that links many types of users, such as governments, schools, libraries, corporations, hospitals, individuals, and others. No single organization owns, manages, or controls the Internet, and the Internet is not free. The major costs of running the network are shared by its primary users: universities, national laboratories, high-tech corporations, and governments.The original network, ARPANET, was created in the late 1960s. Its purpose was to allow defense contractors, universities, and Department of Defense (DOD) staff working on defense projects to communicate electronically, and to share the computing resources of the few powerful, but geographically separate, computers of the time. In 1990, ARPANET ceased operation because NSFNet and various midlevel networks, sponsored by the National Science Foundation, made the Internet viable for commercial traffic. The Department of Defense continues to run a military network.The last few years have seen dramatic expansion in Internet connections by corporations, governments, schools, and individuals, with an almost nine-fold increase in the Internet host computer count. The Internet connects more than 43 million host computers in 247 countries.The most powerful Internet application is the World Wide Web. With the appropriate browser software, a user can view images, listen to audio files, or see motion pictures. While the Internet offers almost limitless possibilities for the free communication of ideas, research, and information, there are serious business and consumer issues concerning accessibility, cost, privacy, fraud, security, copyright, and standardization. This chapter provides background information on the history, growth, and costs of the Internet, and discusses the benefits and problems facing Internet users.