Internet is now so deeply integrated into our lives today, from sending emails, downloading songs to connecting people thousands of miles away, that we don't seem to realize that there is a life beyond it.
Libraries are obsolete for research papers as now we have online journals to support us, people can choose not to go to the theatres to watch movies as HD-quality movies are available online. Just thinking of life without the Internet is impossible today!
But there was a point of time where people had to do without the Internet. There were letters instead of emails, expensive international phone calls instead of the free VoIP services such as Skype that the internet provides. So where did the journey of the Internet begin?
The first social interactions that could be enabled through networking was a series of memos written by J.C.R. Licklider of MIT in August 1962 discussing his "Galactic Network" concept. 1962... nearly half a century ago! Through many phases (Web 1.0 - 3.0), the Internet is where it is today! In fact today, we have a periodic table for Web 4.0!!! Interesting right?
To see the enlarged version of this, please visit: http://www.wellingtongrey.net/miscellanea/archive/2007-06-23--periodic-table-of-the-internet.html
I am sure many of you would have faced the problem of explaining the workings of the Internet to your parents or grandparents. Now place your selves in their shoes. Our parents lived through the invention of the television, the phone the radio etc. My dad still tells me how his dad (my grandfather) preferred to write letters and wait for the reply, instead of using the phone and when, once he NEEDED to use the phone, he had a lot of trouble grasping the concept of talking to someone who is in a different country altogether!
Its scary to think that there would be a time when OUR kids would be explaining US what something means! The pace at which the Internet is growing is scary. Web 3.0 is just a beginning which will make life EVEN more easier than it is now and then there is Web 4.0 which is the ubiquitous web. I wont bore anyone by delving further into the nitty gritties of Web 4.0 but it surely is coming!
The fast paced development means that the future of Internet is starts with today. As Mr. Choy repeatedly emphasised in class, the first two years of a 4 year IT course would be obsolete by the end of the course. How do we keep up with this?? Its hard, but by being up-to-date with the developments it is possible!
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