History

When you are surfing the net, it is hard to imagine how relatively new this incredible communications tool actually is. But its widespread consumer use is little more than a decade old.

The Early Days

The Internet really began in the early 1960s, when a few visionary thinkers saw the value in having computers share information with one another on a decentralized basis, particularly in the scientific and military areas. Much of the early work on Internet development occurred at the government's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, later renamed the Advanced Research Projects Agency, and then continued in partnership with several major universities.

In the early years, the Internet was far from user friendly. There was no home or office personal use. It was a complicated system, used mostly by computer professionals, scientists, and librarians. As Internet architecture became increasingly standardized during the 1970s and 1980s, more and more non-technical people learned how to use the nets.

The Internet Is Everywhere

By the early 1990s, the World Wide Web provided a new way to link text to other text, and independent commercial networks began to grow. It also became possible to route digital traffic throughout the country without passing through any government funded Internet site. By 1995, the government ended its sponsorship of the Internet backbone completely, that decision led to the explosion in commercial Internet traffic..

Before most people knew what the Internet was, commercial companies like Prodigy, CompuServe and AOL were packaging exclusive content on private networks and walling off access only to their subscribers.  However, the Internet was gaining popularity, and it became clear that closed networks would suffer. These companies began offering Internet access to their customers. When this happened, Internet usage exploded.

Internet Innovations

In the early days of public usage of the Internet, most consumers connected to their Internet Service Providers via dial-up modems over phone lines. And the government required telephone companies to keep these lines open for competitors. This paved the way for new services and lower prices, and fueled the growth of AOL, Amazon, eBay and many other Internet mainstays.

As more people used the Internet, and as computers got more powerful, people were coming up with new ways to use the Internet that required faster access than you could get from dial-up modems over phone lines.  Phone companies developed DSL technology – Digital Subscriber Lines – that could give consumers faster access to the Internet without tying up their home phone lines. Cable companies began offering high-speed Internet access, also known as broadband, over their cable television wires.

Today, competition between Internet Service Providers is dwindling because high-speed Internet access is available for most consumers via one cable company or a local telephone company.