The Power of the Web and the Internet (PDF)

IT2221 The Power of The Web and The Internet The First-Ever Website Web vs. Internet...

IT2221 The Power of The Web and The Internet The First-Ever Website Web vs. Internet The first web page went live on August 6, 1991, addressed as http://info.cern.ch/hypertext/WWW/TheProject.html. It contained links The terms “Web” and “Internet” may seem identical, either by definition to the WWW project itself, including a description of a hypertext, or purpose. Technically, they describe different concepts, but a better technical information on the web server creation, and links to other comprehension of these ideas and their history leads to new web servers once they become available. realizations of their functionalities. Web (World Wide Web) It is a network of web pages that are found using a link address. It is called the "web" based on its interconnected nature, designed to easily get various resources. The web allows access to an array of documents that are interconnected through hypertext or hypermedia links, i.e., hyperlinks and electronic connections that link similar pieces of information, allowing the user to smoothly transition from one page to another. Brief History of the Web Tim Burners-Lee Source: https://www.businessinsider.com/flashback-this-is-what-the-first- He is a British scientist who invented the Web, also called World Wide website-ever-looked-like-2011-6 Web (WWW), in 1989 while working at CERN. The fundamental idea Figure 1. The closest copy of the first-ever website was to combine the growing technologies of computers, data networks, and hypertext into a powerful and simple global information Extension and Going Global system use. In March 1991, the WWW software became available to colleagues He wrote the first proposal for the Web in March 1989 and the second that use CERN computers. By August 1991, Burners-Lee announced in May 1990. By November 1990, it was formalized as a management his work on Internet newsgroups, making the interest in the project proposal with the help of Robert Cailliau, a Belgian systems engineer. spread across the world. By the end of 1990, he had the first Web server and browser running It was evident that the small team at CERN could not handle all the at CERN while developing the code for his Web server on a NeXT work, so he launched a plea for developers to join. By 1993, the computer. To prevent it from being accidentally switched off, he put up National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) released a hand-written label in red ink that says "This machine is a server. DO versions for PC and Macintosh environments. The existence of NOT POWER IT DOWN!!" reliable and user-friendly browsers on these emerging computers had an immediate impact on the phenomena of the world wide web. 04 Handout 1 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 1 of 4  IT2221 The Internet The 1990s It is a massive interconnection of networks connecting millions of ARPANET was decommissioned in the 1990s. Tim Berners-Lee and computers globally, thus forming a network wherein any computer can his colleagues at CERN develop hypertext markup language communicate with other computers connected to it. (HTML) and the uniform resource locator (URL), giving birth to the first version of the World Wide Web. It is also a network of physical cables including copper telephone wires, TV cables, and fiber optic cables. Wireless connections such as In 1995, Microsoft launched Windows 95. Online businesses like Wi-Fi and 3G/4G are considered networks as they rely on these Amazon, Yahoo, and eBay followed suit, and Java is created, enabling physical cables to access the Internet. animation on websites and starting a new wave of internet activity. The process of internet connection starts with entering a website. The The 2000s computer then sends a request over the wires to a server where websites are stored, and once the request arrives, the server recovers The 2000s sees the rise and the burst of the dot-com bubble or the the website and sends the retrieved data back to the computer. Internet bubble. It is the period between 1995-2000 when investors financially supported Internet-based startups hoping they would all Brief History of the Internet turn massive profits. By 2001, most dot-com companies were gone. The 1960s The 2000s also saw Google’s meteoric rise to domination in the search engine market, besting Yahoo!, and MSN Search. In 1962, computer scientist Joseph Carl Robnett Licklider, started an idea for a global computer network. Works by Leonard Kleinrock, This decade saw the emergence of Wi-Fi, a wireless Internet Thomas Merrill, and Lawrence G. Roberts on packet-switching theory communication, as well as mobile internet devices like smartphones. pioneered the world’s first wide-area computer network. Roberts then published a plan for Advanced Research Projects Agency Network Web vs. Internet (ARPANET), making it a standard for all military computer networking. Simply put, the web is an application built on the internet. The internet The 1980s is the infrastructure that connects computer networks, while the web is a system of information accessible through the Internet. In 1982, the PhoneNet system was founded which is both connected to the ARPANET and the first commercial network, Telenet. It Not everything available on the internet requires the web as there are broadened internet access allowing email communication between platforms that do not rely on it, such as email. Sending an email is various nations in the world. possible, regardless of the web or a web browser, as it uses SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) which is a secure email relay service. Paul Mockapetris, Jon Postel, and Craig Partridge developed the Domain Name System to control the increasing number of users on the internet using domain names. By 1984, a computer manufacturer registered symbolics.com, becoming the first domain. 04 Handout 1 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 2 of 4  IT2221 How the Web and the Internet Changed the World Entertainment The impact of the web lies in making internet-connected devices Far from the limited disk and cassette players and expensive channels widely accessible, paving the way for the current digital age. This in cable networks, the entertainment industry has been one of the accessibility made the world’s population into internet users. most impacted areas of the web and the internet. Communication Aside from the entertainment brought by social media applications such as Facebook and Twitter, the emergence of gaming has risen After the benefits of telephones and televisions, one of the biggest rapidly, as seen on gaming websites such as Twitch and YouTube changes in communication was caused by the web and the internet. Gaming. Newspapers and magazines are now digitalized, providing Messages sent via mail can take days up to weeks to arrive, but with an easier and cheaper copy of the physical ones. the use of email and social media sites, easier and instant communication has become available. Streaming services such as Netflix, Disney+, Spotify, and Apple Music have served as the main source of entertainment for the past years, Unavoidably, this also created an environment where careless which is far from the limited media from before. communication is present. It is instant as it is destructive. Thoughts can be communicated quicker, making misunderstanding a risk The adverse effect is the absence and lack of real human connection through impulsive messaging. It is advisable to re-think messages and interaction. Online entertainment consumption continues to concerning the other person before hitting the send button. increase, creating an unhealthy habit that leads to fatigue. It is encouraged to only consume entertainment for an observed amount Information of time and spend more time outside of that bubble. Traditional books still exist, but so are the problems with accessibility. Education The web and the internet gave the world access to various information resources, from old books to newly published books in an e-book Web and the Internet played a significant role in lockdowns caused by format. the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced every education systems to adapt to an online learning model. Video conferencing tools were Access to general information is also made possible through search effective for online classes, while online learning platforms such as the engine sites like Google; allowing research and learning of new skills NEO eLMS portal were utilized to assess student skills remotely. and knowledge that was once limited, due to cost and inaccessibility. One of the effects it created reflects on how students became too However, the downside of this is the false information, or “fake news” reliant and too comfortable in their classes without applying the same being spread with barely any fact-checking. Misinformation aims to enthusiasm during regular classes. This can be avoided through deceive and create an alternative truth by twisting facts for someone focused learning and parent and instructor supervision. else’s favor. It is encouraged to fact-check everything on the internet using reputable websites and trusted resources. 04 Handout 1 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 3 of 4  IT2221 References: Britannica (2019). World wide web. [Web Article]. Retrieved on July 11, 2022, from https://www.britannica.com/topic/World-Wide- Web CERN (n.d.a.). A short history of the Web. [Web Article]. Retrieved on July 22, 2022, from https://home.cern/science/computing/birth-web/short-history- web Google Arts & Culture (2022). The world wide web: The invention that connected the world. Retrieved on July 11, 2021, from https://artsandculture.google.com/story/the-world-wide-web-the- invention-that-connected-the-world/ Jefferson Online (2017). From ARPANET to the world wide web: An internet history timeline. [Web Article]. Retrieved on July 11, 2022, from https://online.jefferson.edu/business/internet-history- timeline/ 04 Handout 1 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 4 of 4