The internet has its roots in the early 1960’s as a prototype military tool for communication. Later, it was used to refer to a network of computers that only provided for file sharing through File Transfer Protocol (FTP). The Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) was the predecessor of the internet.
It was being developed by the United States Department of Defense. However even decades later it was just a file sharing network used for the interchange of technical information. It was not until Tim Berners Lee developed the World Wide Web, when the internet was born in the way we known today.
Uses of Internet
The internet is one of the most innovative tools human rumination has ever come about with. It provides a host of important functionalities that help in the progress of the human tribe as a whole.
E-mail
Electronic mail has almost abolished the need for physical posts. Emails are faster, and cheaper alternative to physical mails. And the greatest advantage they offer is instantaneous delivery to any part of the world with an internet connection.
Emails also allow us to send images, scans, spreadsheets, and even videos thus negating the need of any physical mail delivery system.
Music
The music industry will remain ever grateful to the advent of internet. Because of internet, anyone, anywhere could not only make music, but also sell it online and make money out of it.
Now we don’t need to wait for cassettes of the movies and albums to release. We can simply go online, pay the little fees and download the music of your choice to any device we like. This has brought the artists and music closer to the people.
Images
The internet has enables us to share high quality images all over the world with any one we like in real-time.
Videos
Internet is a dog of many tricks. It allows us to share moving multimedia images and videos. This is a groundbreaking functionality and has resulted in the development of mass media through leaps and bounces.
Today, movies, lectures, speeches, etc need not have to be waited for and attended. One can download the required video files, at their own ease and pace from the comfort of their homes.
Live Feed
Technological and bandwidth advancement resulting in high-speed wireless broadband internet has enables live feeds to be published online just like live television. This has enables various events to be telecasted live on the internet.
The best part of this is that we don’t require any form of expertise or expensive instruments. Anyone with a camera and an internet connection can start a live feed. Experts even predict that the television will become an obsolete entity in the coming decades because of the internet revolution.
News
Internet has created a virtual space called social media through which any sort of information can easily be transmitted to the world or any particular person in no time.
This helps to disperse important news to people who have no proper resources to get the news at that time. Crucial information about hurricanes and cyclones can be transmitted through the internet that can help save hundreds of lives.
Video Conference
Internet is bringing the world closer, shortening distances and making the planet a global village. Video Conferencing technology is one such step which takes us closer to each other. Using this, we can talk to anyone in the world sitting anywhere else just like they were in front of us.
A speaker, microphone and camera system works in tandem and sends signals through the internet to bring us moving video of the person we want to talk to and his voice.
VoIP
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is just like a mobile phone connection or a telephone connection but unlike those, it uses electrical signals through the internet and not telephone cables or mobile waves. This is much cheaper and efficient than telephonic or mobile conversation.
Banking
Today, one can open and operate a full-fledged bank account through the internet. This results in quicker transactions and helps boost business and economy.
Gone are the days when we had to wait long lines for our turn to deposit or withdraw money or for money order. Today, through net banking, we can transfer our money to anywhere in the world instantaneously with the click of a button.
Business and commerce
Business and commerce, no doubt has got a tremendous boost due to the flourishing internet network. Buyers and sellers now do not even need to meet to finalize a deal. Everything can be done over the internet from checking products to making payments.
Economy gets a massive boost because the overhead cost of extra logistics is saved and that reduces the price of the product. E-commerce websites allow us to buy a range of different products from laptops to toiletries all sitting at our homes with the click of a mere button.
Cultural Exchange
Internet brings the world closer than ever. This results in the exchange of different ideas from different cultures and traditions. This intermingling of different people helps in the formation of a truly cosmopolitan society which is free from all kinds of bias and discrimination.
Educational tool
Internet in its infancy was meant to be only an educational tool. Today it is almost as good as an entire educational institution. There is information on all topics available on the internet. Now, we no longer need to spend hours going through pages sitting in a dull library.
Internet gives us the facility of searching through volumes of books equal to several hundred libraries and brings to us our required search query in a matter of milliseconds.
Today, over the internet we can also do courses and get certification from the comfort of our home without having to go to an actual brick and mortar institution. This is of especial importance to remote areas where schools and colleges have not been able to penetrate.
Conclusion
The internet, undoubtedly is a wonderful boon to mankind. But just like anything else, it has a dark side. An less familiar part of the internet, the ‘dark web’ as it is called by many is an illegal trading place away from the purview of government scrutiny where people can order all sort of explosives, illegal drugs.
Even hit men are available for hire to undertake assassination orders. But the positivities of the internet far outweighs its contributions to the development of mankind as a species and also as a society.
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