Internet in its infancy

In 1965 the internet took its first real steps into reality with a number of major leaps forward.

The first email system was developed at MIT for use on their time-share mainframe computer. The term 'hypertext' was invented as a reference to cross-referential links between documents in a computer.

Also in 1965, Gordon Moore, a future founder of Intel, introduced 'Moore's Law' . The law states that computing power on a single integrated circuit (computer chip) would double every 18 months. This has held true for more than 40 years.

Most importantly, the first computer network was finally set up as a research experiment, with two computers at MIT's Lincoln Lab TX-2 and System Development Corporation's Q-32 in California linked together using the phone network and the circuit switching used for telephone conversations. This experiment proved that networks were possible and also highlighted that a better system of transferring information was required to create larger and faster networks.

In 1966 the terms 'packet' and 'packet switching' were introduced. This technique of sending information across networks in small bundles, each bundle with individual addresses like letters, would replace circuit switching to become a key part of the Internet Protocol (IP) that makes the internet possible.

Based on the success of the networking experiment in the previous year, ARPA received funding to establish a networking experiment that would tie together a number of universities funded by the agency. One of the myths of the internet is that this experiment was to create a military network that would allow Generals to control their armies if conventional communications were lost. In fact the experiment's main purpose was to test packet switching technology as a way to send information between computers.

The first computer was connected to the experimental ARPA network in 1969, two months after Neil Armstrong walked on the moon . This was followed by a second computer a month later, allowing the first messages to be sent across the network. An additional two computers were added by the end of the year. The ARPANET, as it became known, now allowed universities across the United States to communicate via a computer network.

By the end of 1971 there were 23 computers at 15 different locations connected to the ARPANET and the first computer terminals were being connected to the network to allow individual academics to research and publish information more easily.

The following year the first true email software was written, and email rapidly became the most popular application on the network.

By 1973 the first intercontinental connections were made, with ARPANET connecting to a university in the United Kingdom and to a radar establishment in Norway.

In the same year Robert Metcalfe developed the concept that would later become ethernet, the usually blue cable used to connect many networks today. Metcalfe would go on to found 3com in 1979.

In 1974 the term 'internet' was used for the first time, in a paper by Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn 'A Protocol for Packet Network Internetworking' that defined and establish the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) that became another crucial element of how computers would communicate across networks (TCP/IP).

By this time there were 62 different computers networked using the ARPANET.

In 1975 Bill Gates and his friend Paul Allen developed BASIC, the first computer language written for a personal computer. They sold the first version to MITS, maker of the Altair 8800 personal computer. Later in the year the two began referring to their software business as Micro-soft. They later dropped the hyphen to rename the company Microsoft .

The following year the Apple I kit computer was released by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak on April Fool's Day for a bargain basement price of US$666.66.

Also, around this time the first Australians began connecting to the network via the international dial-up service offered by the Australian Overseas Telecommunications Commission (OTC).

In 1976, email was first used to gain political power. Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale used email during their US presidential campaign to co-ordinate their schedules. They won the election and Carter became a strong supporter of the internet. Each of their emails cost about US$4 to send.

In the same year Queen Elizabeth II became the first head of state to send an email.

In 1977, Apple Computers was incorporated. Their first products took computing out of the hands of large companies and enthusiasts (who built their own computers using kits), making computers accessible to businesses and households.

ARPANET now connected 111 computers.

The first spam (unsolicited) email message was sent in 1978 to 400 people, advertising a new computer from Digital Equipment Corporation. This narrowly pre-dated the first emoticon -) (meaning tongue-in-cheek) which was sent in 1979 and the first virus in 1980.

In 1981 IBM launched the IBM Personal Computer. Retailing at between US$1,500 and US$4,500, more than 65,000 were sold in the first four months. Available with several operating systems, including MS-DOS from Micro-soft, now known as Microsoft, the computer used standardised components to make production easier and later prompting the creation of many IBM-clone computers that further helped the growth of the personal computing (PC) market.

By 1982 there were over 200 computers connected to the ARPANET and it was decided that they should split off from the military sites into a separate network. A US military directive established TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) as the protocols that must be used on the ARPANET and all military networks.

The first PC (personal computer) network was demonstrated at a major conference and the smiley :-) was suggested as a way to indicate humour in messageboard posts.

In 1983, the entire network switched to the TCP/IP system creating the internet as we know it today. The military split off into their own Milnet, with 45 computers. Through the year ARPANET grew to over 500 computers and the domain name system, using English words rather than numbers to address internet hosts, was developed.

Also around this time, Australia established the first permanent connection to the ARPANET and an email gateway was installed to allow the first emails to be sent from Australia to other countries.

The term 'Cyberspace' was introduced in 1984 in William Gibson's novel 'Neuromancer'. In the same year the number of computers connected to the internet grew to over 1,000.

In 1985 the first domain names were registered, with over a hundred registered by 1987.

In 1986 a new internet link was created for the United States, termed NSFNet. This 56kbps connection, equivalent to a modern dial-up modem, became the main backbone for the network.

The internet continued to grow at a rapid pace, reaching 5,000 connected computers by 1986, and over 10,000 in 1987.

The NSF era was when the National Science Foundation began funding a series of improvements to the backbone of the internet. The .edu era was when universities and other national departments started getting onto the internet. It wasn't until the 1990s that businesses and the rest of the world caught on.
Source: Roy Brander

Also in 1987, Apple introduced the HyperCard system, the first personal publishing system to support hyperlinks but only within pages on a single computer. It would take a number of years before someone developed a similar system for use across networks.

In 1988, the first large-scale deliberate virus attacked the internet. A worm created by Robert Morris Jr. infected 6,000 of the 60,000 computers now connected. Claiming that the worm was designed to test the size of the internet but had had a design flaw; Morris was later convicted under the US Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, fined US$10,050 and sentenced to three years probation and 400 hours of community service.

1988 also saw the development of Internet Relay Chat (IRC) and the first transatlantic fibre-optic cable linking North America and Europe; able to handle 40,000 telephone calls at the same time.

By 1989, over 100,000 computers were connected to the internet. Australia was connected to the NSFNet for the first time, allowing Australians access to services and information that were not previously available.

So many libraries and universities had placed information on the internet by this stage that it was becoming difficult to track each piece of data. This prompted the creation of the Archie tool used to index websites.

The first known internet scam was perpetrated in November, with the 'Make Money Fast' pyramid scheme posted to newsgroups.

The same year saw the release of the first web proposal written by CERN's Tim Berners-Lee. He proposed a 'hypertext system' to aid in sharing information between researcher teams.

1989 also marked the establishment of the first public Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in Australia, with DIALix in Perth and Pegasus Networks offering national access from September of that year.