October 29th – Happy birthday Internet!

October the 29^th marks the 44^th anniversary of the revolutionary idea that has changed the tides of technological history: the Internet.

Before 1969 the radical idea of sending data from one system to another was nothing more than a theory, something that couldn’t be achieved because the technology simply wasn’t available, but during an incredible year (full of amazing achievements) a network of computers were linked via a system called “ARPANET”, which meant that multiple computers had the ability to transmit data between themselves, despite it being a crude version of what we now use day to day (and what you’re using to read eTeknix!)

Development then began to take place to push ARPANET to the next level and allow computers to connect on a global basis as opposed to a LAN network, meaning that you would be able to send data from one place to another without the need to be sat side by side. This achievement was had in 1977 when 3 different computers transmitted data from the UK to the US back and forth on ARPANET, the Bay Area packet radio network and the Atlantic Satellite network. This event began the monumental stride into technological advancements that have led us to having the Internet that we now have today!

It’s mad to think that technology has gone from years of development leading into a single PC transmitting data from 1 country to another and then gone into 1gb/s switches being created for LAN events across the country which is the absolute norm.

How has the internet changed your life, if at all? Let us know in the comment section below!

Thanks to ComputerHistory for the information and image!