The Internet Behind The Web

The Internet Behind The Web - Commentary from Liz

I think the documentary was fascinating, and that much of the general public still has no idea the internet we use today began as a research concept in the 1960s.  Pretty amazing. 

The film and our discussions in class also got me to thinking about the ever changing and amusingly outdated technology many of us remember.  A more modern (and comical) view is the image/video that has floated around the net lately of a toddler age baby playing with a magazine and seemingly disappointed when it does not function the same as an iPad touch screen does.  Amazing what children pick up on. There really will be generations of people who have no clue what a VHS tape is or even an 8-track.  

I also thought of the first time I got an email account.  I was a freshman in college in the fall of 1998 (I'm a little older than 22) and I had used computers, typed up school work on them, and played lots of games, but did not have an email account yet.  I can laugh about it now..... since I had to ask someone to show me how to get a Hotmail account.  Me: "Oh? I should get an email address?  Can you show me how to do that?"  A more tech savvy classmate showed me how to find it online. 

I also like this video of a 1981 computer demonstration from the KRON TV channel out of San Francisco:

Though the development of the technology that brought us to where we are today is astounding, I also find it rather amazing that companies like AT&T totally snubbed the idea of the internet when they were presented with it.  I think a lot of companies are still guilty of doing things like that - by that I mean not looking any further than the end of their nose to meet company goals.  Which is why I have faith that people in our field of communications will be able to excel because we know how to use this stuff!  I'll gladly leave the heavy duty software development to computer scientists, but your company needs a profile set up and managed on the hottest new social media sites along with an online media strategy?  Then someone in our field is perfect for the job!  :)