Many of us, including myself, thought that the internet was an invention of the 90’s. It was, in fact, something that had been worked on by the U.S. government since the 60’s to share ideas and computing powers and programs. By creating a distributed network of information between the UCLA and Stanford Research Institute, it allowed different computers from different manufacturers and different operating systems to communicate information in a network that did not have a central “brain” but that linked those separate brains together; an internetwork or internet.
It wasn’t until 1991, however, that the internet became accessible to people for non-commercial reasons. This is right around the same time I started experimenting with the internet; I created e-mail accounts, and my own webpage on Geocities.
The internet has opened many doors for me, as I’m sure it has for millions of people. For someone with a curious mind, it makes it possible to search for information that was previously either not available, or took a long time to get a hold of. Now, everything is at our finger tips, and we only need some basic computer skills to get it to work in our favor.
Like anything, though, there are also downsides. In warfare, this medium can work against us. It makes me wonder; when do we have access to too much information? What information should be restricted or censored? With all the violence that is going on in the world, is it helping our society, or is it causing more harm? What effect will the internet and its “bad” influences have on kids today?
Time will tell, for the internet is still a relatively new invention. Let’s hope people will use it for good, as it was intended for.
