Information Essay: The Internet
...have proved triumphant with companies such as NTL able to provide cable television and telephone simultaneously. The most recent piece of technology is the Internet. Its purpose is not as specified and is more general. The Internets aim is to provide a range of computer-based services for example e-mail, teleconferencing and information retrieval. The Internet is a widespread information service which is relatively easy and inexpensive to use. It is a multimedia system and is therefore capable of processing and delivering text and graphics. This piece of digital technology began in 1969 but made its breakthrough in the early 1990’s more specifically 1993. Although only 40% of the population have access to the Internet the information that is available from this source is colossal. At this point in time the Internet is becoming even more successful. Its availability to the public is increasing along with the information contained on it. Figures show that the Internet growth is increasing by 20% every month spreading faster than mobile phones. The Internet is no longer just found in the business sector but is expanding into schools, libraries and the commercial sector. Today it is not necessary for people to go to a library to read books. Due to the Internet it is now possible for people to access this information from their own home using e-books. This is just one example of how technology is rapidly improving. The types of access to the Internet have also been expanding. Connection can be obtained through radio signals, cable television lines and fibre optic connections. However the majority of people gain access via the telephone network. The people responsible for the Internet are the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). These people are also behind the plans to improve the Internet in the future. What they describe to be the “next generation of the internet” (taken from how stuff works) will be known as SuperNet. The new and improved Internet will be a thousand times faster than it is at the moment and will be able to deliver digital images extremely fast. The people working on this project feel that there is a lot of potential for the Internet. At the moment the Internet is hel...