Life of Internet

The Life of Internet journal

Eight ways into the subject.

A growing editorial map for readers who want explanation, not just advice.

01A picture of the Trojan Room coffee pot , displayed in the XCoffee viewer.

Packet switching changes the map

Breaking information into packets allowed shared networks to route around congestion and failure.

Breaking information into packets allowed shared networks to route around congestion and failure. The useful question is not simply whether an idea sounds right, but when it applies, what it leaves out and whose experience changes the answer. This entry places the issue inside a wider social and practical context.

Look for observable details, trustworthy sources and language that leaves room for revision. A serious account can be clear without pretending that every person or situation follows the same path.

02The first IRC server, tolsun.oulu.fi . A Sun-3 server. Photograph of the server on display near the University of Oulu computer centre in 2001. The machine itself is the gray box in the middle of the picture, behind the bar. Monitor is on the floor, labelled appropriately.

The four-node beginning

ARPANET connected UCLA, SRI, UC Santa Barbara and Utah in 1969.

ARPANET connected UCLA, SRI, UC Santa Barbara and Utah in 1969. The useful question is not simply whether an idea sounds right, but when it applies, what it leaves out and whose experience changes the answer. This entry places the issue inside a wider social and practical context.

Look for observable details, trustworthy sources and language that leaves room for revision. A serious account can be clear without pretending that every person or situation follows the same path.

03The first IRC server , tolsun.oulu.fi . Photograph of the Sun-3 server on display near the University of Oulu computer centre.

A protocol for many networks

TCP/IP allowed unlike networks to interconnect without surrendering their internal design.

TCP/IP allowed unlike networks to interconnect without surrendering their internal design. The useful question is not simply whether an idea sounds right, but when it applies, what it leaves out and whose experience changes the answer. This entry places the issue inside a wider social and practical context.

Look for observable details, trustworthy sources and language that leaves room for revision. A serious account can be clear without pretending that every person or situation follows the same path.

04Farouk Kamoun

Names for a growing network

DNS turned a central list into a distributed naming system capable of global scale.

DNS turned a central list into a distributed naming system capable of global scale. The useful question is not simply whether an idea sounds right, but when it applies, what it leaves out and whose experience changes the answer. This entry places the issue inside a wider social and practical context.

Look for observable details, trustworthy sources and language that leaves room for revision. A serious account can be clear without pretending that every person or situation follows the same path.

05Apple 's headquarters at Infinite Loop in Cupertino, California, USA.

The Web opens its doors

CERN made core Web software freely available in 1993, accelerating public adoption.

CERN made core Web software freely available in 1993, accelerating public adoption. The useful question is not simply whether an idea sounds right, but when it applies, what it leaves out and whose experience changes the answer. This entry places the issue inside a wider social and practical context.

Look for observable details, trustworthy sources and language that leaves room for revision. A serious account can be clear without pretending that every person or situation follows the same path.

06For the APRANET in 1969, the BBN Interface Message Processor (IMP) did the packet routing. (It's another cool artifact of history in the back room, awaiting installation in the new Computer History Museum exhibition hall.) The Honeywell 516 minicomputer inside had only 6,000 words of software (in 12K of core memory) and monitored network status and statistics. Cost: $82,200 The first transmission between UCLA and SRI took place on October 29, 1969. Larry Roberts, architect of the Internet, diagrammed some of that rich history at our CEO Summit.

Commercial networks take over

The NSFNET transition helped create a competitive commercial backbone environment.

The NSFNET transition helped create a competitive commercial backbone environment. The useful question is not simply whether an idea sounds right, but when it applies, what it leaves out and whose experience changes the answer. This entry places the issue inside a wider social and practical context.

Look for observable details, trustworthy sources and language that leaves room for revision. A serious account can be clear without pretending that every person or situation follows the same path.

07This is the very first computer to ever be connected to the Internet. Of course, back in 1969 it wasn't called the Internet, but the ARPANET, and really there was no ARPANET to connect to - this computer and its accompanying Interface Message Processor formed the first node on the ARPANET, and the connection from UCLA to the Stanford Research Institute (SRI) was the first backbone link on the ARPANET. This computer sent, with the aid of the IMP (which is essentially a router), the very first message ever sent on the Internet , which promptly crashed the computer on SRI's end. I took this photo at the grand re-opening of the original Boelter 3420 lab at UCLA, the birthplace of the Internet, as the Kleinrock Internet Heritage Site and Archive, which will soon open to the public. If you'd like to learn more about the museum, click here ..

Platforms concentrate attention

Open protocols coexist with private services that command enormous audiences and data.

Open protocols coexist with private services that command enormous audiences and data. The useful question is not simply whether an idea sounds right, but when it applies, what it leaves out and whose experience changes the answer. This entry places the issue inside a wider social and practical context.

Look for observable details, trustworthy sources and language that leaves room for revision. A serious account can be clear without pretending that every person or situation follows the same path.

08RMS at the InterContinental Hotel, in Berlin , Germany , was inducted in the Internet Hall of Fame , in recognition of his contributions as an innovator and for founding the Free Software Foundation .

The next internet is contested

Security, access, climate cost, governance and human rights will shape what comes next.

Security, access, climate cost, governance and human rights will shape what comes next. The useful question is not simply whether an idea sounds right, but when it applies, what it leaves out and whose experience changes the answer. This entry places the issue inside a wider social and practical context.

Look for observable details, trustworthy sources and language that leaves room for revision. A serious account can be clear without pretending that every person or situation follows the same path.