Difference between the Internet and Web
The Internet is an information infrastructure that was introduced about 31 years before the Web. It should not be confused with the World Wide Web. J.C.R. Licklider, who some computer scientists consider the 'Father of the Internet', called it the Galactic Network concept, which was based upon the idea of a group of globally connected computers. Leonard Kleinrock and his colleague, Lawrence G. Roberts, believed that computers could talk to each other, so they tested the first telephone dial up between a computer in Massachusetts and one in California.
1994
In the same year that millions of people watched Los Angeles cops chase football celebrity O.J. Simpson in his white bronco on live television, the Web made groundbreaking news. For example:
- The 'Internet in the box' became the first Internet connection package made available to the public.
- Netscape Navigator became the first commercial Web browser on the Internet. While it started out as a paid subscription service, Netscape Communications' policy changed when Microsoft launched Internet Explorer, which was available to the public for free.
- Cookies were created to keep track of your browsing history. The term refers to a tiny piece of data sent from a website to your computer for future reference.
1995 - 2000
The year after the Web became available to the public, three important developments occurred, which we still use today. These included JavaScript, a language imbedded into Web browsers to create interactivity. JavaScript is the difference between reading a screen with just text and a multicolor screen with different font sizes, embedded audio and popups.
The language differs from Java, which is used to build applications and platforms, like applets. Applets are programs that display games, interactive widgets and maps. The other cutting-edge development included Flash, a technology used to make videos and animations appear in the Web browser.
2000-2012
While many Web-related innovations occurred at the beginning of the new millennium, we'll focus on the iphone, a digital device that debuted in July 2007. In 2008, Apple added the drag and drop feature, which allowed users to play their favorite games. The company also added a date and time feature in 2010. Now, before you move on to the lesson summary, check out this infographic, which highlights the important moments in the Web's history.
Lesson Summary
The Web was invented by Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee in 1989, a technical innovation that enabled computers to share information with each other through hypertext. Key components included hypertext markup language (HTML), hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) and uniform resource locator (URL). The Web differs from the Internet, an information infrastructure originally known as the Galactic Network. Additional developments included the use of cookies that track browsing history on commercial browsers, such as Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator.
