Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Quarter of world online as internet turns 40
According to a new report, 1.67 billion people have access to the internet as it reaches its 40th birthday.
It all began in October 1969, when teams at Stanford Research Institute and UCLA began tests to send data between two computers located 400 miles apart.
The testers attempted to log on to a Scientific Data Systems computer at Stanford and send the message 'LOGIN' one letter at a time. It was reported that both the 'L' and 'O' had successfully arrived on the screen of the Stanford computer, but the system crashed before it could receive anything else. Thus, the first word spoken by the internet: 'LO'.
In 1989, Tim Berners-Lee proposed a new protocol based on a hypertext system of embedding links into text. The system became publicly accessible as the World Wide Web in 1991.
These new figures estimating the number of users online is as of 30 June, 2009 and are according to the Internet World Stats website where they state that 1.67 billion people had access to the internet, around 25 percent of the world's population.
It all began in October 1969, when teams at Stanford Research Institute and UCLA began tests to send data between two computers located 400 miles apart.
The testers attempted to log on to a Scientific Data Systems computer at Stanford and send the message 'LOGIN' one letter at a time. It was reported that both the 'L' and 'O' had successfully arrived on the screen of the Stanford computer, but the system crashed before it could receive anything else. Thus, the first word spoken by the internet: 'LO'.
In 1989, Tim Berners-Lee proposed a new protocol based on a hypertext system of embedding links into text. The system became publicly accessible as the World Wide Web in 1991.
These new figures estimating the number of users online is as of 30 June, 2009 and are according to the Internet World Stats website where they state that 1.67 billion people had access to the internet, around 25 percent of the world's population.
Source: Nomensa
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on
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Yes indeed. Also see UNIX, DARPA and ArpaNET and AT&T's Bell Labs.
Sir Tim Berners-Lee developed the World Wide Web (a graphical interface) to run on top of the character-based Internet on a NeXT computer. This used a UNIX-class operating system that would become the foundation for Mac OS X; Linux is another well known example of UNIX. (UNIX-class, meaning both a group and a standard)
Possibly the most astonishing use of this industrial-strength OS is in a popular mobile phone. Perhaps 20 years ago, a big UNIX workstation might have cost tens of thousands of dollars: now its essence, incredibly, is in Apple's iPhone which means that its potential is unlimited.
A few years ago, all the world's languages were accommodated with Unicode. One of the most significant things in recent days auguring for the growth of the Internet has been the recommendation of ICANN to allow non-Latin Domain Names, which should extend the reach further.
I'm sure that eventually all the world's computers will be running UNIX-class operating systems. Rumour has it that even one or two of the leading figures in HoL have joined the world computing élite!
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