Before the Internet actually became the Internet, it was called ARPAnet. ARPA-Who? Yes, it is definitely a funny-sounding name. Especially considering what the Internet is today, literally encompassing every aspect of our lives. ARPAnet stands for Advanced Research Projects Agency Network. In the late 1960s, the Advanced Research Projects Agency and the Department of Defense set out on a mission. They tried to find a way to simplify communication and data sharing, but they did not use the old telephone “circuit-switching” method for voice and data transmission. This method was only able to transmit from one to the other in a linear manner – end to end.
Once configured, ARPAnet, as rudimentary as it was at the beginning (late 70’s, early 80’s) used packet switching that allowed communication and data to be sent and received to multiple locations. Thus, the TCP / IP communication protocols were born. Perhaps you can thank Robert Kahn and Vint Cerf for this, often referred to as the Father of the Internet. What started as a defense project quickly spread to the National Science Foundation (NSF) and academia, making it possible to share information in real time. In 1989, ARPAnet was shut down, replaced by NSFnet.
The first commercial use of the Internet
The first public and commercial use of the Internet came when Compuserve and MCImail added an e-mail service for anyone who needed it in mid-1989. The PSInet then configures the commercial section to the Internet backbone. In the late 1990s, Tim Berners-Lee invented hypertext transmission protocols that should sound very familiar to everyone; HTTP. Then it came; HTML, UseNet and FTP (file transfer protocol). The Internet was already working and only in their wildest dreams they imagined that today more than 4 billion people are connected online around the world – soon everyone will be connected and their lives will somehow affect their lives.
The Internet has changed the way we do business forever
Before the rise of the internet, companies used fax, Federal Express and Zap Mail parcel delivery, Snail Mail (USPS) and very limited data transfer with Alpha Pager (very short text messages to which you could answer yes or no). At the time, people were nervous about the junk fax ad, little did they know that the future of SPAM would be bitten by a big bite of that nonsense – albeit only to make it worse 1000 times. Before spam blockers, users wore the letters on the “delete” key for a month after purchasing a new computer.
The Internet has accelerated the flow of information and the pace of business to such an extent that in 1999 Bill Gates wrote a book; Business @ Speed of thought. Of course, in the mid-1990s, almost every legal company, big or small, owned or built a website. Why not have an online brochure available 24/7 without having to print and send information to prospective customers? Yes, the printing industry has suffered, printing houses across the country have collapsed almost as quickly as the film sector has disappeared with the advent of digital cameras.
Main evolutionary changes in the commercial use of the Internet
Yes, the Internet has changed everything in our world, but nowhere is the change so dramatic as in the business world. From 1990 to 2000, everything changed in 10 years. It was a chaotic time, but a time for great opportunities. There is always a chance in changes. The faster the change, the more chaos, crisis, and yes, the chance. Below is a short list of some of the paradigm shifts that the Internet has brought to business;
- Commercial email has become the preferred method of written communication
- Companies of all sizes built websites – competing on equal terms
- Interactive websites have allowed customers and businesses to do business online
- Industry Portal Websites containing information from each sector of the economy were created
- Search engine competition has rapidly evolved to meet consumers’ immediate information needs
- Bulletin boards and then blogs brought two-way, transparent information to business communication
- Social networks and social networks began to develop
- The whole world has become mobile with smartphones – the internet has followed – the rest is history
Today, information from all over the world is at your fingertips, wherever and whenever you want. Soon, the SpaceX LEO (Low Earth Orbit) satellite network system, Starlink will provide internet services anywhere in the world, and anyone with a mobile device will be able to access the internet. Well, it just changes everything, and we start again. Are you ready for the next wave of opportunity / chaos aboard the next satellite rocket launch? It is already here and implemented. It will appear in 2020. Once again, the Internet does not disappoint – change is the only constant on the Internet. Your company should constantly use these new technologies
What’s next? What is the next great evolution of business computing?
This turns out to be easy to predict as industry and the world’s largest corporations are already getting ready for it. Consider if the Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data and Artificial Intelligence (Artificial Intelligence) will be connected in real time to the cloud and all this secure data and information will be ready for anyone anywhere and on any mobile device?
Imagine you run a factory, supply chain, construction project, hospital, university, financial institution or multiple retail locations and have the information you need right away? Imagine all of these systems integrated, structured and optimally configured for maximum efficiency – anywhere in the workplace, location and “knowledge needed” information for each team member in real time.
From a business point of view, the Internet has just become 100 times more useful, but only if you take advantage of these changes and opportunities.
