What is the Internet?

When it’s time to learn about the Internet, we should start with a couple of key words – connections and conversations. That’s what the Internet is all about. This net of computer networks use a particular “language” that allows computer users in nearly every country to share information with others. This standard method of communication is Internet Protocol (IP). The information passed along the massive network through electronic and other connected technologies.
It’s also important not to confuse the Internet with the World Wide Web or “Web.” In fact, the Web, as we call it, is primarily the system of text and graphics that make up all the commercial and non-commercial Web pages. There are now millions of these pages, used by individuals, businesses, schools and organizations to communicate, advertise and sell.

But the Internet is a bit different animal. It began about 50 years ago as a way to connect various military and government agencies, projects and small networks. The Internet was, at one time, not the open, public world of communication that we see today. It was funded primarily by government and military money that focused on a variety of research projects. However, in the past couple of decades this huge network of computers and smaller networks has been commercialized. In 2010, millions of people make use of the Internet in one way or another.

One way the Internet is unique is that it has no central governing body, at least not one that is connected with one country or even a group of countries. The various smaller networks do their best to set standards and abide by the guidelines and communication standards used around the globe. Most people are familiar with the concept of IP addresses and domain names. This system is under the auspices of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. It’s commonly referred to as ICANN. Other loosely organized groups and semi-formal governing organizations contribute to the guidance of Internet use as well.

Again, the Internet and the World Wide Web are not the same. The Internet is the entire communication system that distributes data around the world. It is made up of computers, routers, wires etc. (hardware) and all the standards and programs that make it operate (software). The World Wide Web (www) is one of the primary uses of the Internet. This can be viewed as a service used by millions, as an electronic, visible marketplace and in many other ways.
If you really want to dig into the government/military roots of the Internet you probably need to go back to the late 1950s and an agency of the United States government known as ARPA, which stands for Advanced Research Projects Agency. One of the primary factors in getting this agency established was the perceived lead held by the Soviet Union in space technology and electronic-communications technology. Scientists and electronics specialists from major universities and research laboratories joined forces in the early years to create much of what we now know as the Internet.