Week #1: The PRE-History of the Internet

In class, we learnt about the history of the Internet. Now, let’s go back one more step further to the pre-history of this global networked environment.


The Internet is definitely a necessary invention given the needs of humans to communicate. For instance, oral communication has existed since the beginning of time. This was followed by the development of written communication, with the Sumerians in early Mesopotamian civilization giving us cuneiform. Stone, papyrus, wood, cave walls and even tortoise shells were some of humanity’s earliest recording instruments. Communication across vast distances was also an age-old aspiration – the usage of carrier pigeons, Morse code, smoke signals and lighthouses propelled humanity closer towards that dream. Further developments that transpired during the Industrial Revolution and the Information Age gave mankind new communication tools and technologies such as electricity and the telegraph. Next came the radio and the television, which further enhanced the mass broadcast of information (in the form of entertainment and news) all over the world. Inventions such as those mentioned above established a platform for a more complex and effective communication tool.


The development of electronic networks like the telephone (or telegraph system, as it was once called) was the precursor of the Internet. After the construction of the first line in 1844 from Washington to Baltimore, a transatlantic cable was installed in 1858. Following that, in 1861, telegraph wires covered the United States, allowing for one-way communication. This ushered in the development and usage of Morse code to transmit information. Subsequent improvements in technology led to the invention of the telephone, through which two people could communicate simultaneously. Starting from the 1980s, rapid advancements in the infrastructure led to it becoming a global networked environment, allowing for mass communication via cables, satellites, etc. Today’s swift transmission of information – news, music, thoughts and opinions and more – over mass distances is thus made possible by this infrastructure.


As the science-fiction writer and futurist Jules Verne once said while describing a future world, “photo-telegraphy allowed any writing, signature or illustration to be sent faraway - every house was wired”. His vision has indeed come to pass today, perhaps even beyond his wildest dreams. However, one needs to remember that this brilliant invention, the Internet, was not envisioned and created within a day but is instead a product of different people across different ages building upon each other’s ideas. Without the input of its predecessors, the Internet would be a nonentity today. The same goes for all our ideas: rarely are these ideas thought of out of nowhere; instead, they are constructed based on previous innovations, inspirations and even mistakes.


Reference:
http://www.nethistory.info/History%20of%20the%20Internet/prehistory.html