BACK • 
The ABC's of www.
It seems that in today's "hustle and bustle" society, everything can be found at www. and everyone can be reached by email. Instead of letters, brochures and phone calls, it's email, video-conferencing and web sites. It has become a way of life for many people for as far back as they can remember.
How for back does the Internet really go? In fact, whom do we have to thank for the Internet? No, not Al Gore. But, an even more unlikely source.the former Soviet Union.
When you actually take the time to look back through history to find the starting point, it goes back to 1957, when the USSR launches Sputnik. In response to this, the following year, the US forms the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA), within the Department of Defense, to establish US-led science and technology applicable to the military. In 1965, ARPA begins work on 'ARPANET', and in 1969 four universities in the US are connected to ARPANET, to become the first four hosts. By 1971, ARPANET grows to 23 hosts, connecting universities and government research centers around the country.
In 1981, IBM releases its IBM PC. It retails for $4,500 and 65,000 are sold in the first four months. By 1987, the number of Internet hosts exceeds 10,000, and in 1990, a victim of its own unexpected success, ARPANET is decommissioned, leaving only the vast network -of-networks called the Internet. The number of hosts exceeds 300,000 and in 1991 the World Wide Web is BORN!
By 1992, more than 1,000,000 hosts are part of the Internet, and by 1993 Internet traffic expands at a 341,634% annual growth rate. In 1994, Netscape Communications Corp. is created by Marc Andreesen and Jim Clark, and Pizza Hut accepts orders for a mushroom and pepperoni pizza, with extra cheese, over the net. By 1996, the Internet celebrates its 25th anniversary, and approximately 40 million people are connected. More than $1 billion per year changes hands at Internet shopping malls. Users in almost 150 countries around the world are now connected to the Internet and the number of computer hosts approaches 10 million.
Fast-forwarding to the year 2000; according to Nua Internet Surveys, 70% of colleges offer some kind of distance learning. The National Education Association and National Center for Education Statistics tell us that 63% of US public school classrooms are connected to the Internet, and 68% of US private schools are connected to the Internet.
Looking at a daily snapshot, according to Neilsen/Net Ratings, on May 17, 2000; 27.4 million people were online in the US, spending a combined 12.9 million hours online at homes, or an average of 28 minutes online per person. In just one day!
However, there is always another side to the story. According to a Pew Internet & American Life Project survey; half of US adults are not online. 57% have little or no interest in getting online, 54% believe that the Internet is dangerous and 51% say they are not missing anything. 32%, or 31 million Americans say they "definitely will not" go online, and 25% say they "probably will not" venture onto the Internet. Pew did find that age was a major factor among non-users; 81% of those who say they'll never go online are older than 50.
There will always be those who cling to a "previous way of life." Those who still listen to tapes and records rather than compact discs; those who watch only local programs on television rather than have Cable TV or a satellite dish; those who still have a rotary phone instead of touch-tone dialing, cordless or cellular phones. For some it may be a cost objection, do not mistake it, sometimes technology comes with a big price tag, but for others it's just a comfort factor.
I hope you enjoyed my very brief thumbnail sketch of the history of the Internet. It, like many other things in our life has a beginning that many of us have forgotten about, never known, or take for granted. Whether it be Edison and the light bulb, Ford and the automobile, Marconi and the radio, or in this case Sputnik and the Internet.
It's kind of ironic how the Internet has blossomed from a Cold War concept to a globalized information superhighway. What was once created to keep one country ahead of another has united the world and broken down barriers.
(Garrett A. Butenhoff is a financial consultant with J. E. Liss and
Company, Inc. in Milwaukee. The views are his, and not necessarily those of
Liss Financial Services or the Job Connection/Hiring
Network.)