Twin Births
I was born in 1948 in Burnley a post Industrial Revolution town in Northern England; in fact Burnley had been one of the most prolific cotton weaving towns in Britain; so who was my twin?
My twin was in fact, The Internet, please read on for more nerdy info. ;)
The Internet’s Birth and Physical Evolution: From ARPANET to 1990
1. The Theoretical and Technological Foundations (1940s - 1960s)
The origins of the Internet trace back to the mid-20th century, shaped by military priorities and theoretical breakthroughs:
Claude Shannon’s Work (1948):
In A Mathematical Theory of Communication, Shannon laid the groundwork for digital communication, defining how information could be represented and transmitted and of course, I was born in 1948.Packet Switching (1961-1964):
The concept of packet switching, where messages are broken into packets and routed individually across a network, emerged as a revolutionary alternative to traditional circuit switching:Leonard Kleinrock (MIT) proved its feasibility mathematically.
Paul Baran (RAND Corporation) envisioned decentralized networks resilient to disruption.
These ideas were critical for creating a robust communications system in the Cold War era, where the U.S. sought a network that could survive nuclear attacks.
As a wonderful co-incident evolution, the Beatles emerged in Liverpool, Northern England too (just like me) sadly, they never asked me to join them even though I was only 41 miles away!
2. The Birth of ARPANET (1969): The First Internet Prototype
ARPANET was funded by the U.S. Department of Defense’s ARPA (Advanced Research Projects Agency) as the first operational packet-switched network:
The First Connection (October 29, 1969):
The first ARPANET message was sent from UCLA to Stanford Research Institute.
Message: "LO" (it crashed after two letters).Early Infrastructure:
ARPANET initially linked four nodes in 1969:UCLA
Stanford Research Institute
UC Santa Barbara
University of Utah
The connections were established using leased telephone lines and modems, enabling the early physical layer of network communication.
Here come them Beatles again too (for one of the last times in fact). This was the year of their rooftop concert in London which showed what a bloody great rock band they were. Take a look and listen.
Overall though, the 1960’s were just bloody amazing musical years. Here is Jimi Hendrix playing Star Spangled Banner at Woodstock in 1969.
3. The 1970s: Protocols and the Physical Evolution of Networks
A. Development of Networking Protocols:
NCP (Network Control Protocol):
The first host-to-host communication protocol used on ARPANET.TCP/IP (1974 - 1983):
Vinton Cerf and Robert Kahn proposed TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) in 1974.
By 1983, TCP was split into TCP (reliability) and IP (routing), giving rise to TCP/IP as the universal networking standard.
ARPANET officially adopted TCP/IP on January 1, 1983 ("flag day").
B. Emergence of Physical Network Technologies:
Coaxial Cabling and Early LANs:
Early ARPANET connections used coaxial cables as physical media.
Point-to-point links dominated the 1970s for WAN connections, leveraging modems and leased telephone lines.
Ethernet’s Birth (1973):
Robert Metcalfe at Xerox PARC invented Ethernet, inspired by Hawaii’s ALOHA system.
Ethernet became the first broadcast LAN technology, transmitting packets over a shared medium.
Token Passing and Token Ring (1975 - 1985):
IBM developed Token Ring in the 1980s.
Unlike Ethernet’s CSMA/CD, Token Ring used a token for deterministic access to the network.
The 1970’s were never as exciting as the 1960’s for me; however I was DJ’ing during most of these years and of course in the 1970’s we had the advent of Punk Rock. Punk rock emerged in the mid-1970s as a reaction against the perceived excesses of mainstream rock music. Drawing inspiration from 1960s garage rock and proto-punk bands like The Stooges and the New York Dolls, early punk bands sought to return to a raw, stripped-down sound. In New York City, venues like CBGB became hubs for pioneering acts such as the Ramones, Patti Smith, and Television. Simultaneously, in the United Kingdom, bands like the Sex Pistols and The Clash led a movement characterized by fast-paced music, anti-establishment lyrics, and a DIY ethic. This transatlantic development of punk rock not only transformed the music scene but also gave rise to a distinctive subculture that emphasized youthful rebellion and anti-authoritarian ideologies.
4. The 1980s: LAN Proliferation and WAN Expansion
A. The Rise of Ethernet as the LAN Standard
The Ethernet standard evolved throughout the 1980s:
10Base5 (“Thicknet”) - 1980:
Used thick coaxial cables and vampire taps.
Speed: 10 Mbps; range: 500 meters.
10Base2 (“Thinnet”) - 1985:
Replaced Thicknet with thinner coaxial cables, connected via BNC connectors.
More cost-effective, range: 185 meters.
10Base-T (“Twisted Pair Ethernet”) - 1990:
Introduced star topology with devices connected to a hub using twisted-pair cables (Cat 3/Cat 5).
Simpler installation and troubleshooting.
Ethernet’s adoption skyrocketed due to its simplicity, speed, and affordability, outpacing Token Ring.
B. Token Ring Networks (1985):
Developed by IBM, Token Ring offered predictable performance by eliminating collisions.
Speed: 4 Mbps, later upgraded to 16 Mbps.
C. WAN Technologies Expand the Internet Backbone
While LANs connected localized devices, WAN technologies extended connectivity:
T1 Lines (1960s):
Digital circuits supporting speeds of 1.544 Mbps.X.25 Networks (1970s):
Early public data networks using packet switching.Frame Relay (Late 1980s):
A faster, more efficient WAN protocol replacing X.25.NSFNET (1985):
Created by the National Science Foundation to replace ARPANET as the backbone of academic and research networks.
NSFNET’s high-speed links (56 Kbps initially, later T1) accelerated Internet growth.
More musical memories from me as I was no longer a baby! In the 1980’s and still in England, my family and I got to live in the Sheffield area, in Harthill and Whitwell to be more pointed. Sheffield became a world-hub in many ways for Electronic Music and my tastes had always been a bit off-the-wall so one of my favorites from this era and city was Cabaret Voltaire. They named themselves after this spot in Zurich which had been a centre for Dada’ism.
5. Supporting Technologies: DNS, Email, and Standards
The Internet matured in the 1980s with critical supporting technologies:
DNS (Domain Name System, 1983):
Replaced numeric IP addresses with human-readable names (e.g.,.com
,.org
,.edu
).SMTP (1982):
Standardized email delivery over networks.File Transfer Protocol (FTP):
Enabled file sharing between hosts.Cisco Routers (1984):
Cisco began commercializing multi-protocol routers, enabling interconnectivity between LANs and WANs.
6. The Transition to a Global Internet (1989-1990)
By the late 1980s, ARPANET was aging and being replaced by NSFNET as the new backbone. Key events included:
Decommissioning ARPANET (1990):
ARPANET was officially retired as TCP/IP and NSFNET took its place.The WorldWide Web (1990):
Tim Berners-Lee at CERN proposed the concept of the WorldWide Web (WWW), creating a user-friendly application layer on top of the Internet.
Conclusion: The State of the Internet by 1990
By 1990, the critical building blocks of the modern Internet were in place:
TCP/IP became the universal standard for inter-network communication.
Ethernet (10Base-T) was emerging as the dominant LAN technology, outpacing Token Ring.
DNS simplified addressing, and email (SMTP) became widespread.
NSFNET replaced ARPANET, providing a high-speed backbone for academic and research networks.
These advancements set the stage for the explosion of the Internet in the 1990s, including the rise of the WorldWide Web, commercial networks, and mass adoption by businesses and individuals.
And next, what comes next? Stay attuned to find out and I can certainly say that my son Morgan was involved.