How did the internet start?


The internet \| How did the Internet Start? \| How has internet impacted the world? \| Where will it go from here?

How did the internet start?

The internet began as an experiment in the 1960's in the USA. A US Defence department began by linking three computers together accross the country. Soon there were links to more computers throughout the US. The reason for this was that the US wanted a computer network that could withstand nuclear attack - if one station was destroyed the others would still work. This network became known as ARPANET.

In the 70's the internet spread to universities and research institutes in the USA, UK and Europe. By the 90's the internet was being used by everyone, including commercial companies and private individuals at home.

The internet first came to New Zealand in 1994 when a fibre-optic cable was laid under the Pacific Ocean from California to Waikato University.

Below is a graph showing the growth of the internet since it started:

As you can see, there has been an intense increase in usage of the internet since it started.

On the next page we look at the impacts of the internet - how it has effected our world.

Next page:
How has internet impacted the world?