Many claim that the internet was invented in the early 70’s, in connection with the Internet’s predecessor, Arpanet, being modernized thanks to protocols such as the IP protocol and the TCP protocol. These protocols, and by extension the Internet, were invented by Vint Cerf and Robert Kahn in 1974.
Arpanet – the forerunner of the internet
Arpanet was created in 1969 by the American research institute ARPA, or Advanced Research Projects Agency. The first message consisted of the “LOG” command, which was used to allow the research team to log in to other computers. Arpanet was never commercially available, but it was of secondary importance as the goal of the project was to experiment with computer network technologies.
The predecessor to the internet was mainly used for different universities to be able to communicate with each other, as well as to be helpful in the event of interruptions in the telephone network. This is probably why some believe that Arpanet, and by extension the internet, was created so that the United States could defend itself in the event of a possible nuclear attack from Russia. Regardless of whether those opinions correspond to reality or not, Arpanet and the internet were originally an internal, ie. US-based affair, earmarked for educational and military purposes.
The TCP / IP protocols were the starting point for the Internet
The TCP and IP protocol were invented in 1974 by Vint Cerf and Robert Kahn. These allow anyone to send data packets over connected networks, and form the backbone of the internet. The US intelligence service NSA considered that Arpanet would become too cumbersome due to the TCP / IP protocols, and this gave rise to Arpanet being phased out, and the internet took over.
The Internet had competitors
In the 1980s, a number of computer networks existed in addition to the Internet, such as the UUCP dial-up system and BITNET. In addition to this, some computer manufacturers had chosen to create their own computer network protocols, such as Digital and Novell. But thanks to the fact that the internet was open, and that the TCP / IP protocols were superior to the other standards, it was the internet that won the battle.