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Figure 1: Internet Growth (Total Systems) 1986-1993. Source: SRI International
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| bet | 3/27 | | Sana | 19.03.2017 | | Hajmi | 3.19 Mb. | | #225 |
Figure 1: Internet Growth (Total Systems) 1986-1993. Source: SRI International
Virtually every network’able operating system in the world is represented somewhere on the Internet. This is made possible by universal support for the TCP/IP and related internetworking protocols. Although TCP/IP provides the basic framework, the real end-user appeal takes shape in the form of the applications, information and connectivity capabilities the Internet has to offer. The past years represent the initial “explosion” of systems connecting to the Internet, driven by the desire of global connectivity and e-mail access. This boom has sparked the development of new efforts in the community improving accessibility and usability as the user-base expands beyond computer experts. I refer to these efforts loosely as “Internet navigation tools” or “second generation information tools”.
Many of these second generation tools allow users to navigate the Internet as a virtual library of information. Although a user session may span a number of systems, on different networks, in many countries, many new tools and protocols do their best to shield the user from such detail. Instead, the user navigates through hierarchies of information pointers (links), arranged by subject matter. From an end-user’s perspective this is akin to browsing a bookstore - initially seeking information by subject, then by title, and finally by page. Architecturally, the concept might be more appropriately paralleled with a single application designed to allow a user to browse CompuServe, DowJones, America Online, and Genie without requiring the selection of a specific service - from the user’s perspective they simply flow between related topics, while the tool manages connections between the appropriate services in the background. Of course, an application of this nature would be very difficult to develop given the use of proprietary protocols and the physical presence of these information services on multiple, disjoint networks. One of the greatest strengths of the current Internet infrastructure is that a single system can provide multiple, simultaneous connections to different information providers with a single physical link.
Two aspects of the Internet have stimulated generalized information tools that behave like the one I describe above:
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Thousands of organizations and information sources are globally connected on a common “universal highway system” - given an on ramp, all destinations are reachable with the same vehicle.
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Protocols used on the Internet are developed as collaborative, open efforts between interested producers and consumers of the information. This methodology results in protocols which consider implications such as international use and heterogeneous systems - all cars and drivers on the information highway obey international law.
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