How did the internet originate?

The history of the internet has almost as many branches as the web itself. It began as a military technology, but as its availability gradually spread, it quickly found a place in our homes and pockets. Let’s quickly review its history.

The Cold War

From 1947 onwards, the US and the USSR actually threatened each other with the destruction of (not only) their communication infrastructure. Both sides logically attempted to create an information system that would be independent of a single central exchange, such as the telephone network. The Americans were faster and in 1969 launched ARPANET, a system through which remote computers could communicate. This decentralised network was fundamentally more secure, but its greatest glory was yet to come.

WEB 1.0

The first commercial projects arose in the mid-1980s, and computers and thus the internet were introduced not only into government projects, but also into companies and households. The first real websites were created, at the time operating mainly on the principle of interlinked static content that users could consume, but with which they could not interact much. Connection speeds were infinitesimal by today’s standards and internet outages were common, but this was an important first step.

WEB 2.0

A new generation of the internet came into being at the turn of the millennium, particularly in 2004. The significant increase in connection speeds meant that ordinary users could also be active participants. This gave rise to communication apps, forums, social networks and, finally, modern smartphones that combine all of these functions in a single unit and a few apps.