Dave Barry quotes, “The internet is the most important single development in the history of human communication.” Well, he is not wrong, considering the present situation. We are surrounded by the Internet – in offices, at homes, in educational institutions, the Internet has been an integral part of all our lives for everything like, networking and connecting.
And, to make sure that you connect securely you should use iprouterlogin.com. All of us have been affected by the Internet in our lives. From smart transportation systems to smartwatches, from smartphones to intelligent classes, the Internet has penetrated to the very core of our lives, leaving no stone unturned to instill itself deeply in the world.
Every aspect of our lives is dependent on the Internet. Who could have thought that slogging for hours, standing in offices, or public transports could have been avoided by working from home, which is possible now through the Internet? Who could have thought that students can now practically ‘see’ and visualize food going down the esophagus, which has also been the result of the Internet?
The Internet is so vast an entity that we cannot even imagine. It is a network of networks. Its vastness is incomparable, but to understand it, let’s start with something basic and easily understandable. So, here are some essential facts you need to know about the Internet.
History Of The Internet:
Many of you may not know it, but the Internet was first made for military purposes. It was used as a defensive measure during the Cold War. It, then, was expanded to be used by scientists too. In the 1960s, the Internet started to expand its uses as the computers came to be used widely across the globe, on October 29, 1969, networks at Stanford and UCLA connected for the first time using the Internet. Therefore, they were the first host of what is nowadays called the Internet.
Internet is an acronym for Interconnected Network. Before the Internet, there was ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network), which was also the prototype of the Internet. It adopted TCP/IP ( Transmission Control Protocol/ Internet Protocol) on January 1, 1983, and that kick-started what we call now “network of networks,” the Internet. Globally, the number of internet users increased from 413 million in 2000 to 3.4 billion in 2016. Such was the need and popularity of the Internet!
2. Use Of The Internet:
The use of the Internet is vast and unimaginable. It is used for e-commerce, e-learning, knowledge sharing, social connectivity, communication, and file transfer, to name a few. The Internet also finds its usage in systems like railways, roadways, airport associations, and waterways. It is being used for defense purposes and finds extensive usage in laboratories too.
It provides data, information, and knowledge that can further be used for personal, social, or economic development. The main feature of the Internet is to connect computers and devices for smooth flow of data and sharing and receiving information between two or more users simultaneously. Another advantage of the Internet is its ability to automate.
The devices and sensors use the Internet to perform a designated task or function automatically. For example, a Fitbit, which is worn on the wrist, senses your heart rate and the count of steps you walk in a day. There are some applications too that record your sleeping patterns and then help you improve it or wake you up at the desired time.
3. Internet In Business:
The Internet provides a platform for customers to access websites of e-commerce vendors and buy products online through payment gateways such as UPI or net banking. It also provides a medium through which the businesses may reach out to their customers to advertise their products. Performance details of goods and services and achievements of the company are also provided on the websites.
Companies tend to improve themselves from the feedback gained from various social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. Employees often avoid hassles of commuting through massive traffic jams by working from home through applications like Skype, Zoom, which are a product of the Internet.
4. Smart Homes And Cities:
From a thermostat to a smart vacuum, from the refrigerator to smart TVs, the Internet has penetrated our very homes. Some refrigerators manage your grocery list or vacuum cleaners that automatically senses dust and cleans the floor while you’re away.
Since homes are being transformed, why not the whole city too? There are smart sensors on highways that can monitor your speed and the integrated transportation system that regulates the flow of passengers to and fro many destinations simultaneously.
Many cities have online platforms open to the general population that provides valuable feedback to improve the state of the society at large.
5. Dangers Posed By Internet:
The insane utilization of the Internet has not precisely been all good. It has posed various problems too. The Wi-Fi or net, which we use every day, has its wires underwater, which causes disturbances underground. Upgradation from 4G to 5G has endangered many species of birds.
There is also the risk of theft of information since our bank accounts are connected to the Internet. There is various malware that steals online data. So, although it is useful, the Internet is not exactly safe for all your information.
Conclusion-
The inclusion of the Internet in our lives is as inevitable as the rising of the sun from the East in the morning, but as all of us have heard ‘Anything used in excess is toxic.’, we should not be dependent entirely on IoT, Big Data or the Internet as a whole.
While it may be of immense use in today’s world many more generations to come, the problems it has posed cannot be blindly ignored. Hence, it should be used carefully.
