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The Internet has revolutionized the computer and communications world like nothing before. The invention of the telegraph, telephone, radio, and computer set the stage for this unprecedented integration of capabilities. 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. The Internet represents one of the most successful examples of the benefits of sustained investment and commitment to research and development of information infrastructure.

This “Brief History of the Internet” was written in 1997 and explores these sections:

• Origins of the Internet
• The initial internetting concepts
• Proving the ideas
• Transition to widespread infrastructure
• The role of documentation
• Formation of the broad community
• Commercialization of the technology
• History of the future

You may also wish tovisit our other “History of the Internet” resources.