Skip to main content

The Internet and World Wide Web

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

Abstract

Chapter 13 describes the Internet revolution starting from ARPANET, which was a packet-switched network, to TCP/IP, which is a set of network standards for interconnecting networks and computers. These developments led to the birth of the Internet, and Tim Berners-Lee’s work at CERN led to the birth of the World Wide Web. Berners-Lee built on several existing inventions such as the Internet, hypertext and the mouse to form the World Wide Web. Applications of the World Wide Web are discussed, as well as successful and unsuccessful new economy companies. The dot-com bubble and subsequent burst of the late 1990s/early 2000 is discussed, and we briefly discuss the Internet of Things and the Internet of Money.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Buying options

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   49.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    Licklider was an early pioneer of AI and wrote an influential paper ‘Man-Computer Symbiosis’ in 1960 (Licklider 1960), which outlined the need for simple interaction between users and computers.

  2. 2.

    BBN Technologies (originally Bolt Beranek and Newman) is a research and development technology company. It played an important role in the development of packet switching and in the implementation and operation of ARPANET. The ‘@’ sign used in an email address was a BBN innovation.

  3. 3.

    Packet switching is a message communication system between computers. Long messages are split into packets, which are then sent separately to minimise the risk of congestion.

  4. 4.

    The origin of the term ‘Trojan Horse’ is from Homer’s Illiad and concerns the Greek victory in the Trojan war. The Greek hero, Odysseus and others hid in a wooden horse while the other Greeks sailed away from Troy. This led the Trojans to believe that the Greeks had abandoned their attack and were returning to their homeland leading behind a farewell gift for the citizens of Troy. The Trojans brought the wooden horse into the city and later that night Odysseus and his companions opened the gates of Troy to the returning Greeks, leading to the mass slaughter of its citizens. Hence, the phrase ‘Beware of Greeks bearing gifts’. Troy was located at the mouth of the Dardanelles in Turkey.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gerard O’Regan .

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

O’Regan, G. (2018). The Internet and World Wide Web. In: World of Computing. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75844-2_13

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75844-2_13

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-75843-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-75844-2

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics