Internet
roots
Understanding and reflecting
upon both the historical
facts and
the symbolic import of many of the Internet’s
developmental phases and characteristics is useful for
gaining insight into the peculiarities of
the globalization movement. In
some ways, globalization
arose as America assembled all
its great minds to solve the post-war problems
of what to do with the device which America
created that had the potential to destroy all life, worldwide,
namely the Atomic Bomb.
Physically, the Internet is a worldwide network
of
decentralized telecommunications systems and devices.
There is no Central Administrator. No one owns the
Internet.
Initially,
this design reflected the military's
need for
a dispersed communications command—a web—that
could not be easily
sabotaged and destroyed by one or a few surprise attacks. When
the military—and the scientific/academic defense community
it basically served—"gave" the Internet to the public,
the benefits of decentralization
were maintained.
There are “open” organizations
which have formed to set standards for smooth
operations. Among them are the Internet
Engineering
Task Force (IETF)
and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
(ICANN)
The Internet functions somewhat like language does
for humans. All human groups speak a language but
there is no such thing
as language. It
exists through
various vocalizations, signs and symbols. Language is a uniquely human
experience, though communication is a shared aspect with other species.
Continue—Roots
