History of Internet

These three individuals and a research conference, changed the way we thought about technology by accurately predicting its future:

• Vannevar Bush- wrote the first visionary description of the potential uses for information technology with his description of the "memex" automated library system.

• Norbert Wiener- invented the field of Cybernetics, inspiring future researchers to focus on the use of technology to extend human capabilities.

• Marshall McLuhan- made the idea of a global village interconnected by an electronic nervous system part of our popular culture.

• The 1956 Dartmouth Artificial Intelligence conference- crystallized the concept that technology was improving at an exponential rate, and provided the first serious consideration of the consequences.

The Soviet Union's launch of the Sputnik satellite spurred the U.S. Defense Department to consider ways information could still be disseminated even after a nuclear attack. This eventually led to the formation of the ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network), the network that ultimately evolved into what we now know as the Internet. ARPANET was a great success but membership was limited to certain academic and research organizations who had contracts with the Defense Department. In response to this, other networks were created to provide information sharing.

January 1, 1983 is considered the official birthday of the Internet. Prior to this, the various computer networks did not have a standard way to communicate with each other. A new communications protocol was established called Transfer Control Protocol/Internetwork Protocol (TCP/IP) invented by Robert Kahn, Vinton Cerf, and others, which quickly became the most widely used network protocol in the world.. This allowed different kinds of computers on different networks to "talk" to each other. ARPANET and the Defense Data Network officially changed to the TCP/IP standard on January 1, 1983, hence the birth of the Internet. All networks could now be connected by a universal language.

If we're still in the old age, the idea of the internet would be too impossible to imagine. But with curious and brilliant minds, nothing is impossible. I just hope that people of today would come to think of how hard it has been for the "inventors" of the internet to "make" the internet. So, to compensate the hard works of these people, we must use the internet responsibly. 

Terms:

 ARPANET- Advanced Research Projects Agency Network

TCP- Transfer Control Protocol

IP- Internetwork Protocol

Sources: 

http://www.livinginternet.com/i/ii_summary.htm

http://www.usg.edu/galileo/skills/unit07/internet07_02.phtml

IBM Centennial

International Business Machines or commonly (and shortly) called as IBM is is a multinational technology company that manufactures and markets computer hardware, middleware and software, and offers hosting and consulting services in areas ranging from mainframe computers to nanotechnology. (wikipedia.org)

It was first named Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company but was later on changed to IBM. It was founded by Thomas J. Watson, Sr. who coined IBM's motto then which was "Think." As of now,  the Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of IBM is Ginni Rometty. Rometty was appointed President and CEO effective January 1, 2012 and she became Chairman of the Board of Directors on October 1, 2012.

If it weren't for IBM and the people who helped in building this empire, our computer technology wouldn't be as advanced as we have today. And with more aspiring computer geniuses that we have now and the years to come, I wouldn't be surprised if unimaginable and what seem to be impossible inventions and development will come.