*I like this post. would have been useful to me back in the day.

The Internet – a ubiquitous tool of the modern world. It has transformed our lives from the inside out, laying an unprecedented path for innovations to thrive. Tucked in the attractive silhouette of this powerful tool is a rich history that has unfolded over half a century and continues to evolve, shaping the future of global communication and resource sharing (1). This article peels back the layers of time to explore not only the origins but also the potential future trajectory of the Internet.

Rewinding to the past, the discovery of the Internet as we know it today has its inception in the 1960s. It emerged from the cold war backdrop as a concoction of research to develop robust, fault-tolerant, and distributed communication networks (2). The Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) – often regarded as the Internet orchestrator – was the generator of breakthrough ideas, such as packet switching and de-centralisation (3). These concepts continue to sculpt the Internet’s structural foundation.

In 1969 ARPANET successfully facilitated the first network message between computers located at UCLA’s Network Measurement Centre and Stanford Research Institute’s computer (4). It was an elementary “LO”, a historic event marking the birth of networked computing. The growth trajectory steepened in the 1980s and 1990s with the development of protocols for internet working, where multiple separate networks could interact (5). The Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) became the de facto standard networking protocol in 1983 (2). This approach, along with the distinctive use of domain names surfaced around the same period, building the ballpark for the Internet’s present-day cinch.

The modern Internet assumes a broad dimension, spanning far beyond just networking. The advent of the World Wide Web in the 1990s sprung forth a colossal expansion, braking the barriers between text-based online data sharing to multimedia information dissemination. Tim Berners-Lee, the mastermind behind this revolution, envisaged a widespread use of the Internet to facilitate democratic communication (6). His words in 1990 still echo, “I just had to take the hypertext idea and connect it to the Transmission Control Protocol and domain name system and — ta-da! — the World Wide Web” (6).

Nevertheless, the Internet is not merely a tool of convenience. It has brought far-reaching societal changes, shaping the social structure across the globe. It has fostered globalisation, with some arguing it as the archetype of a borderless world (7). The Internet’s proliferating effects are explicit in the open-source movement, transforming the dynamics of knowledge sharing and collaboration. It encourages participation in the commons, fostering a culture that values collaborative solutions over proprietary closed doors (8).

In the words of scholar Chris Anderson, “The Web is the greatest free-market success story in history” (9). This awe-inspiring success, however, also brings to light the emotional, psychological, and sociological effects of Internet technology. Privacy and security concerns, the divide between digital ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’, and the possibility of Internet addiction are issues of growing concern that drive the discourse about balancing the benefits and drawbacks of technological progress (10).

Pivoting towards the future, the Internet is seemingly on an unstoppable growth trajectory, aided by continued advancements such as the Internet of Things (IoT), Blockchain technologies and Quantum computing. As per an estimation by Cisco, there would be 50 billion devices connected to the Internet by 2030 (11), a boundless potential for expanding the Internet’s influences even further.

Yet, the future of the Internet is not without uncertainty. Ideas such as “decentralised web” or “Web 3.0” propose a shift from the current server-centric model where a few players dominate the web, to a more distributed, user-centric model (12). Such a move might present a reckoning for the existing giants of the Web – think Facebook, Google, Amazon, inherently triggering colossal disruptions in the socio-economic fabric of the global Internet ecosystem.

As we reflect on the profound journey of the Internet, it’s a thrill to ponder – what will the Internet look like a half-century from now? Will it remain the open, democratic space envisioned by its pioneers, or will it become an increasingly controlled sphere, co-opted by a handful of technological conglomerates? The foundations of modern society rest heavily on the shoulders of this ubiquitous technology, making its future course pivotal to our collective existence.

References:

1. Leiner, Barry M., et al. “A brief history of the Internet.” ACM SIGCOMM Computer Communication Review 39.5 (2009):22-31
2. Abbate, Janet. “Inventing the Internet.” (1999).
3. Roberts, L. “ARPANET–The first internet.” Computer Networks and ISDN Systems 28.9 (1996): 1249-1253.
4. Kleinrock, Leonard. “The Internet Rules of Engagement: Then and Now.” The Public-Access Computer Systems Review 7.3 (1996): 5.
5. Zimmerman, David H. The essential history of the Internet: The first internet. BookSurge Publishing, 2010.
6. Berners-Lee, Tim, and Mark Fischetti. “Weaving the Web: The original design and ultimate destiny of the World Wide Web by its inventor.” Great Britain: Orion Business (1999).
7. O’neil, Mike. The internet police. SSP, 1998.
8. Raymond, Eric Steven. “The cathedral and the bazaar.” Knowledge, Technology & Policy 12.3 (1999): 23-49.
9. Anderson, Chris. The longer long tail. Random House Business, 2009.
10. Turkle, Sherry. Alone together: Why we expect more from technology and less from each other. Basic books, 2017.
11. Evans, Dave. “The Internet of Things: How the next evolution of the Internet is changing everything.” Cisco white paper 1.2011 (2011): 1-11.
12. Berners-Lee, Tim, and Mark Fischetti. “Decentralized Web.” Scientific American 320.5 (2019): 28-35.