Invention 2:

Question

The challenge of getting a message quickly from point A topoint B has motivated the creation of foot messengers, the PonyExpress, the U.S. Postal Service, Morse Code, the telegraph andtelephone—and the Internet. The Internet as an idea wasfirstborn in 1958 when researchers at the Bell Labs invented amodem that could convert digital signals to electrical analogsignals and back, enabling computers to communicate with oneanother (“History of the Internet,” Computing ScienceChronology, 2005). The beginnings of the revolution in communication technologybetween computers would later enable ordinary individuals tocommunicate with people they had never met far away, transformmodern commerce by enabling even small vendors to sell goodsinternationally over the Internet, and allow people to telecommuteor remain connected to work and friends 24-7. Information throughthe Internet can be published by anyone and accessed with a click.Information access no longer requires tedious research inofficially published library volumes authored by experts. TheInternet makes life faster and more democratic.

     However, some of the coretechnology behind the modern Internet evolved through quite formalchannels. For example, packet-switching theory arose as a perceivednecessity during Cold War military fighting if more conventionalmeans of communication broke down during a nuclear attack:“Packet switching is the breaking down of data into datagramsor packets that arelabeled to indicate the origin and thedestination of the information and the forwarding of these packetsfrom one computer to another computer until the information arrivesat its final destination computer"(“History of theInternet,” Computing Science Chronology, 2005). In 1974, theEthernet was born, “which allowed coaxial cable to move dataextremely fast. This was a crucial component to the development ofLANs” (“History of the Internet,” ComputingScience Chronology, 2005). In 1992, the World-Wide Web was firstreleased by the particle physics laboratory CERN and use of theInternet began to expand exponentially in the 1990s after InterNICwas created by NSF to provide specific Internet services: directoryand database services (by AT&T), registration services (byNetwork Solutions Inc.), and information services (by GeneralAtomics/CERFnet) (“History of the Internet,” ComputingScience Chronology, 2005).

Works Cited

History of the Internet.” Computing ScienceChronology. Last Updated on 19 March 2001 and            2005. 13 January 2009.

http://www.thocp.net/reference/internet/internet1.htm
Stahl, Ted. “Chronology of the History of VideoGames.” Computing Science Chronology.
15 Feb 2005. Last Updated on 3 November, 2006. 13 January 2009.
http://www.thocp.net/software/games/games.htm

Explanation / Answer

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