Evolution of the internet
1962
First concept.
Licklider creates the concept of a “Intergalactic Network” — a globally interconnected set of computers through which everyone could quickly access data and programs from any site — documented in a series of memos.
1965
ARPA.
ARPA [later known as DARPA] funds Larry Roberts and Thomas Marill to create the first wide-area network connection — connecting the TX-2 at MIT to the Q-32 in Santa Monica through a dedicated telephone line with acoustic couplers.
1969
The U.S. Department of Defense's Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) connected four computer network nodes at the University of California, Los Angeles, (U.C.L.A.), the Stanford Research Institute (S.R.I.) in Menlo Park, Calif., U.C. Santa Barbara (UCSB), and the University of Utah.
1970
Creation of ARPANET.
In 1971, ARPANET begins the year with 14 nodes — including East Coast universities. At the end of year, ARPANET consisted of 19 nodes.
1972 – 1973
In the first ten months of 1972, ARPANET had grown to 29 nodes.
In 1973, thirty institutions are connected to ARPANET — ranging from BBN, Xerox PARC, MITRE Corporation, NASA, National Bureau of Standards, and U.S. Air Force.
1973
ARPANET goes international.
In 1973, DARPA [formerly ARPA] connects seven computers on four islands in Hawaii; and a satellite connection enables linkage to Norway and the UK.
1974
Birth of TCP.
In May 1974, Bob Kahn and Vint Cerf publish "A Protocol for Packet Network Interconnection". DARPA funds the development and implement of the TCP protocol described in the Kahn-Cerf paper.
Meanwhile daily traffic on ARPANET exceeds 3 million packets.
1977
In 1977 Vint Cerf joins Bob Kahn at DARPA to work on the TCP/IP protocols.
In 1977, ARPANET consists of 61 nodes.
1977
In 1977, Cerf and Kahn demonstrate ‘internetting’ — messages go from a van in the Bay Area across the U.S. on ARPANET, then to University College London and back via satellite to Virginia, and back through the ARPANET to the University of Southern California; proving the applicability of international deployment.
1982
The community grows.
As the ARPANET entered its second decade, it was still largely confined to the United States. Academic institutions depended on federal funding to join the network, so the number of nodes expanded slowly.
By 1982, the network only had about 100 nodes. But that was enough to support a vibrant online community.
1982 — 1983
In March 1982, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) declared TCP/IP as the standard for all military computer networking. Soon after, a prominent research group at University College London adopts the TCP/IP protocol. On January 1, 1983, ARPANET standardizes on the TCP/IP protocols already adopted by the DoD — marking the birth of the modern internet.
1986
The 56Kbps backbone leads to the creation of regional feeder networks such as JVNCNET, NYSERNET, SURANET, SDSCNET and BARRNET.
TCP/IP is available on workstations and PCs, and Ethernet is now wired inside buildings and campuses.
Between 1986 and 1987 the number of networks grows from 2,000 to 30,000.
1988
Upgrading the backbone of the internet.
Upgrading the backbone to T1 allows the internet to become more international with connections to Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.
1988 — 1989
Australia, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand and the United Kingdom join the Internet.
1988
1989, Jan
1989, Jul
1989, Nov
In just one year the number of hosts worldwide increased by 120 000.
1989
Web.
At CERN, in Switzerland, Tim Berners-Lee creates the World Wide Web — a hypertext system that runs across the Internet on different operating systems.
1991
Rapid expansion of the internet.
New countries coming online are Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Greece, India, Ireland, South Korea, Spain, and Switzerland.
Total traffic exceeds 1 trillion bytes or 10 billion packets per month.
In 20 years, the internet has grown from 4 to over 600,000 hosts.
Over 100 countries are now connected to the internet.
1992
The number of computers connected to the internet surpasses 1,000,000.
In 1992, at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, MOSAIC is born — which later became Netscape.
1993
Open vs Closed Internet.
During this time, several for-profit tech companies such as AOL, Compuserv, and Microsoft attempted to centralize the internet — Microsoft envisioned a closed system called the "Information Superhighway".
1993
In the end, open protocols won — allowing internet services to be built on open protocols that were controlled by the internet community. This ensured entrepreneurs and organizations could grow their internet services without fear of platform risk from big tech.
2017
DFINITY
The DFINITY Foundation
DFINITY Foundation is a not-for-profit organization based in Zurich, Switzerland, aiming to build the “Internet Computer” to extend serverless cloud functionality to the internet.
There are many implications to this idea, notably revolving around decentralizing the web and enabling autonomous software such as open versions of Facebook, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, Salesforce, eBay, etc, and the ability to displace today's $3.9 trillion dollar legacy IT stack. If successful, this would be a powerful paradigm shift in how the internet operates. The Internet Computer is one of the most ambitious endeavors in technology, and to accomplish this, DFINITY has assembled a large and highly credentialed team of renowned technologists.
NOW
The Internet Computer Protocol (ICP) is extending the internet with serverless cloud functionality and enabling secure software and a new breed of open internet services.
The Internet Computer reimagines software.
Secure. Independent. Simple.
“The Internet Computer is a complete replacement of the $3.9T legacy IT stack... an "alternative" to proprietary infrastructure owned by Big Tech, and allowing developers to create an open and free internet”
—Dominic Williams
Founder and Chief Scientist at The DFINITY Foundation
The Internet Computer
The Internet Computer extends the internet — enabling developers to natively host special “software canisters” and data. Formed by an open protocol that combines massive compute capacity provided by a global network of independent data centers. The Internet Computer is secure and unstoppable, and built for websites, enterprise systems, smart contracts, DeFi systems, and a new breed of open internet services that runs as part of the fabric of the Internet itself — reversing Big Tech's monopolization of the internet, and ensuring a more collaborative future.
Imagine a world where developers just write code onto the internet
Thank you to the Computer History Museum.
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