A Brief History of the Internet Before Google

It’s amazing to kids that there was life before Google. How old is the internet they may ask. Only from the 1960’s, how did you survive without the internet? And what no Google. It used to be how did you live before TV or color TV and now it’s “How did you survive before the internet?” Indeed it’s becoming more common among teenagers and even some adults not to have a TV at all. Either they can watch TV on their laptops or desktop computers while many of the most adventurous have given up and forsaken TV altogether in search of much more accurate, relevant and timely information readily available across the wide span of the internet and World Wide Web. Such are the trends of our modern era of communications, mass media and entertainment industries.

Still what is the history of the internet before the advent of Google? The interpret as a collection and connection of computers all connected together somehow began in the later years of the decades of the 1960’s. You might think that the only major events that came out of that era of the 1960’s were rock music and hippies yet another major contribution of that era was that is the foundation and early development of the internet – its system and backbone.

Yet in the beginning it was not even computer geeks who were involved. A collection of scientist of and from major academic institutions wanted to be able to link together to share and exchange information as well as work on projects in a somewhat more integrated fashion. Along with the impetus the military was working towards a system for command, control and communication that would be redundant and never go down in the event of nuclear war. Nuclear war is seemed at the time was not improbable.

Through the integration of the two lines of interest and development the internet evolved, somewhat in tandem. Somehow the scientists and academics never seemed to be able to or get around to asking the crucial question of the military backers of where and how electrical power would be readily available, to power the internet, in the event of a widespread or even limited nuclear war.

However do not imagine for a moment that the internet even paralleled or was even close to what we know today and take for granted in cruising and browsing the internet. There were no “Microsoft Windows” with all its pretty icons point and click, or the Apple Macintosh GUI (Graphic User Interface). The internet at that time was not for the faint of heart, when it came to technical matters or even “plugs and play”.

Instead all those who tried to use the internet, and utilize and learn its vast powers and potential had to work with was even worse than simple text. Not only was the only means of interaction and entering data into the computer only text based – that is by typing, but in addition it all appeared as endless lines of words and text scrolling by. Forget about pictures and a simple click of the mouse. Instead to navigate the computer the user had to type commands, exactly right and correct – absolutely perfectly in arcane often inane computer languages. Commands had to be entirely precise and accurate other wise the computer, its internet connection flow or both would halt dead in the water.

Its amazing how in such a relatively short time the internet as a standardized communication tool has come to become such an integrated as well as essential component in our daily lives, our personal and business communications and in our purchases of good and services. It’s as if the growth of the internet has been on steroids and fed by oxygen.