The beginning,

well almost the beginning.

We could start with the origins of speech and language; talk about the Linguistic groups in 3000 BC. Maybe the beginnings of the written word. A history of Communication. Or even the beginning of media, communicating to the masses. And of course the Internet itself would not be possible without the computer…

But we won’t travel that far back. Let’s fast forward a bit. Perhaps it was computer networking that really started this worldwide phenomenon, the Internet.  The ability to connect two machines and share information. Granted at first these two connected computers most likely belonged to the same person, and were trading info as basic as numbers; but really, when you think about it, where else would you start.

So networking was the beginning. As a matter of fact those two machines, talking about numbers was in August of 1962 and was credited to a man named Dr. J.C.R. Licklider, from MIT. Licklider, in a paper he published called “Man-Computer Symbiosis” states,
"a network of such [computers], connected to one another by wide-band communication lines" which provided "the functions of present-day libraries together with anticipated advances in information storage and retrieval and [other] symbiotic functions. "
And thus the idea was born. Shortly thereafter Licklider was appointed head of the United States Department of Defenses information processing office called DARPA, and continued his computer research. Licklider immediately saw an opportunity to put his "Galactic Network" concept into play as the department had 3 separate databases, in 3 different cities, with 3 different sets of commands; a pretty large inconvenience.

            Leonard Kleinrock was also a major player in the development of computer networking. Kleinrock, also from MIT published a paper in July of 1961 grazing the topic of Packet switching. Now according to Kleinrock Licklider’s theory would me increasingly feasible with the use of this new type of communication. Essentially, packet switching is the idea that packets, which are units of information, are transferred between nodes over data links, which are shared with other traffic. This is similar to circuit switching; however unlike this type packet switching does not involve an open connection for the duration of the communication. Advantages to packet switching include an optimized use of the bandwidth available, and a decrease in the time it takes for data to pass across the network.

Now the second key component to all of this according to Kleinrock was “making computers talk” and in 1965 they connected the TX-2 computer in Massachusetts to the Q-32 in California. The connection was a low speed dial-up telephone line, and was the very first wide-area computer network ever built.

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Growing and growing...

Following this there was three main network which emerged, and which would eventually lead to the modern day Internet. ARPANET, X.25, and UUCP.
ARPANET
Now the first Advanced Research Projects Agency Network, or ARPANET was established on November the 21st, 1969 between The University of California, Los Angeles, and the Stanford Research Institute. Later the University of Utah and the University of California, Santa Barbra were also added, creating the first 4-node network.

            The ARPA was a US government agency, which was formed with an emphasis on research in reaction to the Soviet Union’s launch of sputnik in 1957. ARPAs main goal was to research how to utilize their computers with regard to Command and Control Research, and Dr. J.C.R. Licklider was chosen to head up the program. Licklider was constantly looking for improvements, which would work on advancing the current state of computing technology, and was interested in interactive computing, however, the current colleagues were not moving in that direction.  As a result, Licklider Office was renamed, Information Processing Techniques (IPT or IPTO). [3]
            Robert Taylor, who was Licklider's successor at the IPTO, recalls Licklider's interest in interconnecting communities and said,
"Lick was among the first to perceive the spirit of community created among the users of the first time-sharing systems... In pointing out the community phenomena created, in part, by the sharing of resources in one timesharing system, Lick made it easy to think about interconnecting the communities, the interconnection of interactive, on-line communities of people, ..." [3]
The ARPANET  grew from Licklider's interest in having computers help people communicate with other people, and was said to be key in exchanging and developing technologies, which were vital to the growth and spread of the internet. The network thrived on the idea of Request For Commons, or RFC. This is basically any documentation or writings, which touch upon the topic of research, innovations, and methodologies which could be related to the Internet. [1] Even today RFC’s are used to distribute internet protocol and different systems.
            Once the ARPANET was up and running, Licklider and his crew came to the conclusion that being able to help in human communication was the most fundamental advance that the ARPANET made possible.

X.25
The x.25 networks were developed in Europe in the 1970s and were used mainly to connect different types of networks through a variety of different connections; Initially the X.25 network was developed to create a universal and global packet-switched network. Basically the X.25 network defines how connections between user devices and network devices are established and maintained. The beauty of this network is that it will operate regardless of the type of systems connected to the network. This type of network is also commonly used with packet switching. [4]

<<insert photos [4]>>

Prior to X.25 terminals were being connected to host computers instead of dialing directly “into” the host computer. This was time consuming ad would often require the host to have its own modems and phone lines, and would also require long-distance calls., Using X.25 all of that was unnecessary and the host could use an X.25 connection could dial directly into the network's local gateway device, which connects modems and serial lines, therefore saving time and materials, not to mention money.
This system was more available to the business interested in getting online and was a key component in the first dial-in public access networks like CompuServe, who became the first to offer electronic mail and technical support to those who owned personal computers. Later CompuServe also offered real-time chat. [1]
X.25 was an important concept in connecting and developing those network connections that are so vital to the Internet of today.

UUCP
            The third main network that emerged was the UUCP, or Unix-to-Unix Copy. Essentially UUCP started as a package of programs that transfer files over serial lines, while also scheduling transfers, and facilitating programs on other remote sites. [5] Bell Labritories first developed the net work in 1977 and by 78 the network already had over 80 connections.
UUCP networks operate in batches rather than having a permanent connection established between hosts. These are just temporary connections. In some cases this would limit the sort of applications that UUCP can be applied to.
Despite this the UUCP networks are popular due to the minimal equiptment needed, the inexpensive process, ease of connecting to an existing network. In more recent years inexpensive Internet access has become commonly available in most parts of the world, and UUCP is being replaced rapidly with TCP/IP networks.
[5]

It was these networks that really gave way to the internet as we know it today, and gave later developers and innovators the platform to build and create the programs that make the world wide web a possibility.

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The addition of advertising

The face of advertising prior to the Internet was rooted in traditional TV, radio, print, and outdoor advertising. These mediums were proven effective with the records of sale but beyond that were difficult to measure. They were also one sided in that the consumer had no direct interaction with the marketer and would be called to call or visit a store. This one-sided relationship also made it difficult to measure effectiveness of campaigns.
As the internet continued to grow two main types of sites started to emerge online: the e-commerce sites who sold items and functioned much like a traditional store, and the content sites, who collected and offered information, photos, video and other items for public consumption. E-commerce sites made their money from the product that they were selling while the content sites relied mainly on advertising for their income. [6]
            Banner ads were the first to appear on these sites offering a photo and information along the top or side of the page as well as a link to the advertiser’s website. These ads were usually sold by impressions and ranged from 10-100 dollars depending on the site and content.
            Banner ads presented several problems. For those advertisers who were attempting to brand their products, banners proved to be too small and easy to overlook, and for those who wished to drive consumers into their store or site banner ads had a very low response rate, meaning that people were not clicking on the ads.
            Following this was the introduction of the sidebar, or skyscraper ad. These are like banner ads but run vertically up and down the web page, which allows for a larger canvas as well as a more pixels. These ads were not only larger but harder to get rid of as you could not scroll past the ad. This resulted in a more effective advertising approach on the Internet.
            Pop up ads emerged next. These ads popped up in the window of a browser, obscuring the page and forcing the individual to physically exit from the screen. These ads are often referred to as annoying and can be a nuisance when surfing the internet, however the click rate is much higher that that of a banner or sidebar.
            Floating ads are also common on the Internet. These ads fly over the page, and like a pop up obscure the view of the page.  These ads are a bit more entertaining and attention grabbing as they are often animated and have sound. The click rate for these ads are higher as well and like pop ups are becoming more and more common. 
            Unicast ads are becoming more common as well these are essentially 10-30 second commercials, which are played in a pop up window. These ads are powerful because they combine the effectiveness of a TV commercial with the instant information on hand with a click rate, meaning you can click on the TV ad for more information at that very moment. These ads have an extremely high click rate, and depending on the message delivery can spread quickly over the Internet.
            These are certainly not the only types of ads, however they are the most popular. Websites often combine 2 or more of these on one page, which can be effective, and could also result in too much clutter, and a negative response from consumers.
            These ads are being used across both the business-to-business and business-to-consumer markets and in recent years the idea of peer-to-peer marketing has also emerged on the Internet. With the freedom that the Internet offers it has become increasingly simple to connect with other consumers and gain information about the product from not just marketers but from uses as well.
            Although newer, Internet advertising does have some benefits such as 24-hour availability of information, and the ability to purchase at any hour. Companies can also reap a monetary benefit to having a smaller workforce, paperless offices, and smaller advertising expenditures. Expanding nation, and even worldwide is also significantly easier online. More and more smaller businesses are starting to take after the larger corporations and join in internet advertising and marketing.
Like with any new medium limitations are also in tow. Slow Internet connections and slew of browsers with different capabilities can make Internet surfing difficult. With regards to purchasing online, consumers are not able to touch, or taste and small the product leaving descriptions up to image and words, which can often be misleading. Payment and security can also present a problem as many times personal information is not kept confidential. 
            Ads such as these have laid a solid foundation for advertising on the Internet and have integrated text, video, images, and even sound in an attempt to reach consumers. These types of ads have set themselves far ahead of traditional media with the ease of measuring not only clicks but also post click conversions, reach of ads, frequency of ads, frequency-to-reach conversions, ad exposure, share of voice, web page eye tracking, and many others. [7]

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The future internet

Luckily it didn’t stop there. Over the next 3 decades the Internet grew into a media superpower unlike anyone could have imagined. This medium has taken new technologies in to account and incorporating them into the mainstream function, it has also grown in capabilities including file sharing, e-mail, video, real-time, and much more.

“With regards to advertising, according to DoubleCick’s “decade in online advertising” it is a control factor for most consumers. With the introduction of the Internet people are able to take control of what they see.  This is not a new concept as radio has seen this with XM radio, TV with the TiVo, Movies, with Video on Demand, and the music industry with the introduction of the Apple iPod.
Thanks to the rise of peer to peer file sharing, digital recorders, and blogs the internet is now being controlled by those who use it.[7]

Is there a future in consumer-generated media?

Rick Bruner, director of research for DoubleClick introduces the idea of “Permission Marketing.” This idea would allow messages to reach consumers only with their permission, eliminating the unsolicited online advertisement.  He addresses the idea that all “marketing should be so appealing that consumers want [it] in their lives.” [7]

As broadband becomes more and more available, and the online world becomes more flooded with messages it will be up to advertisers to find alternate routes of displaying their messages, or even imbedding them into online content.

Many speculate that the life of the Internet will be shorter than expected while others believe that we have only grazed the medias capabilities, and claim that the future of the Internet will morph into what they are calling the “Evernet.”  The evernet is a word used to describe the phenomenon where people will be able to be continuously connected to the Internet from any point in the world utilizing a “convergence of wireless, broadband, and Internet telephony technologies,” and basically any type of information device.  [1]
Regardless of speculation it is fact that the rapid technological and usage growth in a mere decade has made this one of the most popular mediums, worldwide, and will continue to play a vital role in as an informational and globalization tool.

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