The World Wide Web

The World-Wide Web began in March 1989 at the Conseil Européén pour la Recherche Nucléaire (CERN), which is now called European Laboratory for Particle Physics, where physicists from all over the world, collaborate on complex physics, engineering and information handling projects.

Established to fill a need of geographically dispersed scientists to collaborate in a hurry, the WWW quickly gained great popularity among Internet users.

People have dreamt of a universal information database since late nineteen forties. . . . Only recently has the technology caught up to make such systems possible. The World Wide Web is an Internet-based computer network that allows users on one computer to access information stored on another through the world-wide network. The WWW project is based on the principle of universal readership. One of the main features of the WWW documents is their hypertext structure. On a graphic terminal, for instance, a particular reference can be represented by underlined text, or an icon. You click on it with the mouse, and the referenced document appears. This makes copying of information unnecessary: data needs only to be stored once, and all referenced to it can be linked to the original document.

Adapted from Lenny Zeltser's "The World-Wide Web; Origins And Beyond".

The Internet is at once a world-wide broadcasting capability, a mechanism for information dissemination, and a medium for collaboration and interaction between individuals and their computers without regard for geographic location.

For the whole story in detail, see A Brief History of the Internet

What else is the Internet?

  • a set of computers talking over fiber optics, phone lines, satellite links and other media.
  • an ocean of education and resources waiting to be mined.
  • a place of fun and entertainment.
  • a place where you can talk to your family and friends around the world.
  • a place to do research for your thesis or a business presentation.
  • unlimited commercial opportunity.
  • a worldwide support group for any problem or need.
  • a gold mine of professionals in all fields sharing information about their work.
  • hundreds of libraries and archives that will open to your fingertips.
  • the technology of the moment which can make our lives brighter.

    (Adapted from CyberWeb1.com)

    The official definition:

    On October 24, 1995, the FNC unanimously passed a resolution defining the term Internet as follows:

    RESOLUTION: The Federal Networking Council (FNC) agrees that the following language reflects our definition of the term "Internet".
          "Internet" refers to the global information system that --
        (i) is logically linked together by a globally unique address space based on the Internet Protocol (IP) or its subsequent extensions/follow-ons;
        (ii) is able to support communications using the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) suite or its subsequent extensions/follow-ons, and/or other IP-compatible protocols; and
        (iii) provides, uses or makes accessible, either publicly or privately, high level services layered on the communications and related infrastructure described herein.

    BACK TO SQUARE ONE.