Through the

by Braylen Ferrell

The largest empire in history is right in front of you.

The internet makes up a large portion of everything we do, from school and employment to entertainment.

When the internet first came into existence, many people had no clue what to think of it, or what would it become. The internet has changed a lot, with things like social media rising up as the biggest part of the web. For the last 3 years, online education has been a life saver, but it wasn’t the case when it was needed the most.

A Whole New World

When the internet became a public use on April 30, 1993, a lot of problems and questions arose. “I was scared to death of it, everything we used to communicate was through paper and being able to talk to each other,” Eddie Burns said, who was a worker at LG&E at the time. Transitioning from paper copies and mail to something you can’t truly interact with was a shock for most.

Vinton Cerf and Bob Kahn are responsible for the first communication protocols that we used in today’s internet. While they executed this idea, Leonard Kleinrock was responsible for the idea, which came to light 30 years prior in 1961. Cerf began coding with the intent of creating a wider network for the growing number of people in the world.

Certain companies, such as LG&E, were able to the technology before it came fully public. “In 86’, 87’, traveling secretaries would come in and we would give them handwritten documents that we wrote, and they would type them up on a computer and send them out for us,” Burns said. While the program was still limited, being able to transfer documents like these broke down an enclosing wall of communication. From a small program meant specifically for the military, compared to now, going by “World Wide Web”, many never expected an impact like this from the internet. “When it first started I wasn’t very optimistic about it. I thought, you know, there’s no way some of this stuff is going to work,” Burns said. The internet was a concept that many didn’t quite understand, much less imagine how large it would become.

A World of Change

While the internet is everywhere around us today, it wasn’t as accessible a few years ago. “At home it was very very difficult because they had what you call dial up internet. You had to dial in through your phone and it would go through all kinds of ‘beep beep’ and stuff like that and it would let you know you had hooked up,” Burns said. Even with the long wait time, the connection was spotty at best, with most cases ending in a so called “error”.

It seems like in today’s age you have the world in the palm of your hand. Books, videos, news articles, websites to create your own books, videos and articles, the list doesn’t seem to end. “We have everything we need to know just with us. We don’t have to rely on textbooks or anything like that or just our general knowledge,” sophomore Brayden Dubberly said, who has grown up with the internet by his side nearly his whole life.

“But even at my age and everything I am still very dependent on it, I’d be lost without it,” Burns said. The web has become an epicenter for information, finances and communications for anyone of any age. Many of whom use it to minimize time and effort outside of the house. The internet has expanded past just information and

• 79% of Americans use for employment.

• 5.03 billion people are internet today.

• There are over 6 billion pages on the internet.

• There are a total of on Twitter, Facebook, combined.

• The sender of the first remember what he wrote.