Week 12: Telecommunication and the Internet (Clear)

So, I thought I knew all about the Internet, but that was until I watched the lecture and learned more than I realized. One of the biggest things I didn't realize is that Internet with the capital I means the global Internet we use daily whereas internet with an i means any internet or the internet layer.

I guess that's a good place to begin.

So a little background information is the Internet is a network of connections connecting businesses, government agencies, educational institutions and individuals. It is made-up of small and large websites.

One of the most important things is the inter connectedness of the visitors, those using Google, Youtube, Yahoo and Facebook (for example), are more connected than those using niche and community sites, which are smaller and don't have as many links to other sites.

Something to note is that no one owns the Internet in any real sense, but people do own parts (like rights to their website). It is designed to be redundant and fault-tolerant.

Here are some of the basics:

• A network is two or more computers connected together to share data. Any device it is connected to is a host.
• A network application is any application that requires a network to function.

Now that you have an understanding of what is going on, let me explain a little of the history so you know how it has evolved:

• 1970s: The Internet was used for e-mail, file downloading and transfers
• 1990s: It was used for the World Wide Web and instant messaging
• This century: It is used for Web 2.0 (Wikipedia and Youtube are examples), social networking (such as Facebook and Twitter) and streaming media (through Hulu and Netflix)

The goals of networked systems are as follows:

• Connect resources, which signifies the "ending of tyranny of geography"
• Communication medium to connect people (examples are Facebook and Skype)
• e-Commerce to save time and money (businesses can use this to be more efficient. By saying to save time and money it doesn't mean by using the Internet they instantly save money, it means more time efficiency)

The categories of network use:

• Interactions between a person and a remote database (a person and Walmart -- online ordering)
• Person-to-person communication (such as eBay and how one seller lists their product and another person purchases)
• e-Commerce (B2B, B2C, P2P, etc.)
• Entertainment (such as gaming)
• Ubiquitous computing (embedded in daily life)
• The purpose of a computer is to help you do something else
• The best computer is quiet, invisible servant
• The computer should extend your unconscious
• Technology should create calm (be helpful)

Currently, connected devices are laptops, iPhones, XBOX and others, but in the future devices such as refrigerators, microwaves and even cats. Because of the increased connections, we are running out of unique IP addresses which will pose a very big problem soon.

Overall, it is very important to know this information to be aware of what is going on and hopefully prevent massive expenses. The Internet is the connection to basically everything and is vital in today's fast-moving business world. 

Below is a Youtube video introducing what the Internet is. It's from 1994 when it was just evolving, which is an interesting take:

Hope you enjoyed this week's post!