Teazia Vincent
COM 430Z
The invention of the Internet is probably one of the greatest things that have ever happened to man. I may be exaggerating a bit, but it is definitely up there with the first walk on the moon, the invention of a portable phone and the “idiot box”, or television. These things are all great but they just do not compare to the greatness that is the Internet. Of all those things mentioned the most similar are the television and Internet. They are pretty similar because you can watch movies, videos and just basically waste your life while using both. Besides those obvious similarities, there are many characteristics that make the Internet in a league all its own.
One of the defining characteristics of the Internet is its rich history. Initially it was created out of fear; the United States was fearful of a nuclear attack from the Soviet Union. This fear was brought on by the launching of Sputnik I, which was a satellite the Soviets launched into space (Adams & Clark). In the minds of Americans, this could mean a possible attack can occur from out of space at any time, and they would have no way of intercepting it (Adams & Clark). With this taking place the US developed their own satellite named Explorer I in 1958, thus began the “space race”; which was a time when the United States and the Soviet Union were in a competition to conquer outer-space (The Space Race).
The Internet’s creation was purely for military purpose but, as time moved the Internet began to slowly evolve. In the 1970s Ray Tomlinson created the email system that is widely used today; around the same time a guy named Steve Walker created a way for one email to be sent to multiple people (Adams & Clark). In the 1980s the rate in which we receive information over the Internet improved drastically (Adams & Clark). The trend of improvement continued throughout the 80s into the 90s and by the 1990s the internet is pretty much how we know it today; by this time the original military use of the Internet was abandoned and created to a separate network because of the immense overcrowding online (Adams & Clark).
Another defining characteristic of the Internet is it acts as if it has its own sense of time. Synchronicity in the realm of the online world is defined as communication occurring “at the same time”or“where your response follows my comment instantly” (Adams & Clark C.2). An example of synchronous communication could be AOL instant messenger where if you sent an instant message to your “Buddy” they could instantly send you one back, if they are connected to the service. Time on the internet is often faster than you can possibly imagine; sometimes downloads can appear quicker than the time that you have to actually see it (Adams & Clark C.2). Asynchronous time is the opposite of synchronicity which would be an example of email as well as saving loads of information and responding to them when you see fit (Adams & Clark C.2).
Hypertext is an essential part of the Internet. Hypertext has mad it much easier to navigate your way around the web. It can allow you to view a document or video by clicking on an underlined text (Adams & Clark C.2). The great thing about is it allows you to stumble upon information on top information that you may not normally see; it helps to discover more than you could imagine. Another great thing about it, it could make your search easier and save your some time if you are doing research. With this you are given the option to pick and choose what you want or do not want to see (Adams & Clark C.2).
Interaction is another key quality of the Internet. The ‘net is one of the few places where you are able to watch a movie in windows media player, tell your best friend you love them with an emoticon and order a textbook for your dreaded stats class; all at the same time. Not only are you interacting with the Internet but it also interacting with you; some web sites make it possible for you to set your preferences (Adams & Clark C.2). By doing this whenever you access that site they automatically know that it is you and fit everything to what you asked for.
Packet switching is what helps information to flow adequately over the Internet. Packet switching takes data sent over the Internet with information on its location and its destination (Adams & Clark C.2). This system is so sophisticated that it knows when there is trouble and works around it; it is able to navigate its way making it impossible to halt the flow of information (Adams & Clark C.2). Without this technology, the large amount of communication that we have between one another would have been nearly impossible; the affects that we could have had are unbeknownst to us.
I know at one point, we lived in a world where the words packet switching, interactive, hypertextuality and synchronous were just what they are, words. They had their own meaning, but now they form the basis of the Internet. All of these things play a pivotal role in its formation. They function together to give us the entertainment, guidance and obsession that we call the Internet. From its inception, to now it has evolved greatly and as long people are roaming into cyberspace it is going to continue to do that.
Bibliography
Adams & Clark. C.1. How Did We Get Here? The Development of a new medium
Adams & Clark. C.2. What Is It? Characteristics of the Medium
The Space Race. (n.d.). Retrieved September 7, 2008, from
http://www.newseum.org/cybernewseum/exhibits/dateline_moon/space.htm
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