Staying Connected…All the Time?
It is hard to believe that just ten short years ago, dial-up Internet connections were still common. Wow, how far have we come? Today you can’t get away from high-speed online connections–they’re ubiquitous. The Internet is always there–no matter where we are–easily accessible via a tiny computer we carry around in our pockets and bags. Today, we get annoyed when we can’t get a strong enough signal for our devices, and we go to great lengths to ensure that our connections are perfect. How did we get here? When did the Trekkies (remember their communicators?) take over the world? Most importantly, where should we send our thank you cards? The Early Beginnings It’s important that we not forget that the Internet was originally developed for governmental use and then slowly but surely introduced and adopted by schools (universities) and libraries. While UseNet and telnet offered email and basic communications to early adopters, it wasn’t until 1993 and the advent of Internet Explorer that the idea of “the Internet in every house” really took off.