The number of people that doubt that the internet has risen more drastically in the 21^st century than any other phenomenon is indeed very low. The reason for this widespread acknowledgment of the exponential growth of the internet’s influence is fairly simple.

Out of around eight billion humans living on the pale blue and green surface of the Earth, more than six billion of them are users of the internet. Want us to explain this in other terms? Any person standing on the crust of this planet is more likely to be taking advantage of the Network of networks than not. It is important to note that the four billion users do not just spend a few seconds on the internet; instead, they spend hours of their day online!

Besides, the number of devices connected to the internet is much larger – thirty-five billion!

Just to give some context, that is significantly more than four times the population of the entire human race!

On average, one person uses the internet through four to five devices. The boom in the utilization of the global network is mostly caused by growth in supply. You will be shocked to know there are approximately seven thousand internet service providers functioning under the banner of the star-spangled flag. By an internet service provider, we mean any company that offers a set of internet packages. Case in point: Xfinity – an ISP – offers various Xfinity internet plans. 

While something increases in influence, so does the number of discussions taking place. The same thing has happened with the network of networks as it makes its way onto dinner tables more than probably any other phenomena. While some argue about the impact it is having on kids, others like to compare the different internet types.

Then, there are other people who just like to delve into the history of the internet. In the case that you are one of the folks we mentioned last, this post is for people like you! Why are we making this claim? Because, in this article, we will be detailing how the network of networks changed the entire world for the better (or worse). 

ARPANET

The Arpanet stands for the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network. As the name of the network suggests, it was created by the Advanced Research Projects Agency.

Now, if you were thinking that this agency comes under some federal department for the betterment of the world as a whole, you would be wrong. ARPANET was actually formed by the Department of Defense to make sure confidential data was not stored under one roof (that could be bombed by the Soviets) but it could be accessed from many places. 

Here’s one thing we must clarify: although the ARPANET was formed by the DoD, its mission was never restricted to the army. Robert Taylor and Joseph Licklider themselves, in their work – “The Computer as a Communication Device,” state that ARPANET was visioned to form global communities eventually. This is primarily why the ARPANET is known as the predecessor to the internet. 

Internet Protocol

It would be naïve of anyone to choose one person or entity as the founder of the internet. Nonetheless, if we are forced to choose one, we would go for Vinton Cerf. The reason for this is that Mr. Cerf Invented the Internet Protocol, which is the primary method for computing devices to send messages to one another.

Interestingly, the launch date of the internet protocol (Jan 1st) is also considered the birthday of the internet. 

World Wide Web

You must have heard about the World Wide Web many more times than you heard “Internet Protocol.” This is because we use the WWW so much in our lives! The phenomenon consists of billions of web pages that are linked together by HTML code. The inventor of the HTML is also considered the inventor of the WWW. The name of the inventor is Sir Tim-Berners Lee – a British computer scientist that still affiliates himself with educational institutions around the globe. The World Wide Web was brought into being from the late 1980s to the early 1990s. 

Wrapping Up

It’s a wrap! Hopefully, this post brought you valuable insights into how the internet developed into what it is today.

This article was published at How the Internet Rose in Prominence? on Gaurav Tiwari. Please visit the original article for a detailed and optimized view.