The Internet Revolution: The Not-for-dummies Guide to the History, Technology, And Use of the Internet

by J.R. Okin

Who built the Internet? Who controls it, maintains it, makes decisions about
what it can and cannot do and what types of information it may and may not
carry? What does the Internet consist of and how does it work? This book answers
these and many other questions about the Internet, its history, and its use.

It's difficult to avoid some reference to the Internet, no matter how hard we
may try.  It comes up in conversations with friends and family and in
meetings at work.  We hear about the Internet on radio and television
programs as broadcasters awkwardly spell out their Internet site
addresses.  We see the Internet's effect on commerce everywhere we look, in
its role as an entirely new and powerful medium for the distribution of all
forms of advertising.

This change didn't happen overnight.  But it definitely feels like it
did.  It took less than ten years after the Internet was privatized and
opened up to commercial traffic in the early 1990s for it to become - quietly
and unobstrusively - an integral component of our home life, our jobs, and the
world's communication infrastructures, economies, and cultures.  In the
course of a few, frenetic years, the Internet has grown into an inexorable force
that businesses, non-commercial organizations, governments, scientific and
academic institutions, and individuals throughout the industrialized world have
not only accepted but embraced.

Everywhere we look, we see more and more references to the Internet. 
That's because it is becoming part and parcel of everything we do.  The
Internet is changing how we raise and educate our children, how we stay
connected with our families and friends, how, when, and where we perform our
jobs, how we purchase our goods, how we read the weather forecast or our
horoscope or send a birthday card.  These changes in our behavior are
fundamental and permanent, and they are becoming more pervasive with each
passing year.  Consequently, the Internet is changing us, our communities,
our societies, and, as you will understand after reading this book, the very
interconnectedness of our world.

This plain language guide explains:
- How computers evolved, and how they
became the instrument of a revolution.
- Who designed and built the first
computer network, and for what purpose.
- Why computer networking required
the invention of a new type of communication network, and how a computer network
differs from a telephone network.
- How the Internet was formed, and how it
evolved from a private, experimental network into a public, commercial, global
communication infrastructure.
- What the Internet consists of, how it works,
and how it relates to the Web.
- How email was invented, how it works, and
the role it played in transforming the Internet.
- What cyberspace consists
of, how it is used today, and what it promises for how we will communicate,
work, and play tomorrow.
- How and why the technology and management of the
Internet fostered a revolution, and the strategies for success that made this
possible.

"The Internet Revolution" is the first volume of a 3-book series that also
includes:
- "The Information Revolution: The Not-For-Dummies Guide to the
History, Technology, and Use of the World Wide Web" and
- "The Technology
Revolution: The Not-For-Dummies Guide to the Impact, Perils, and Promise of the
Internet."

382 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2005

Reviews

[Karl]

CLASSICS

[Scott Stephenson · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you want to understand where the internet came from I strongly recommend this book.

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably the best book about the Internet for laymen. Very well presented and thorough.