| Chapter 1: | The World Wide Web: A General Introduction |
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There is considerable difference between the Internet and the Web. The word Internet emphasizes the network aspect, meaning interconnecting networks through computers and communication protocols. It has a much longer history than the Web and involves more technical aspects. The Web, on the other hand, came much later as an application made possible by the Internet. Both these technologies are very popular and have enjoyed wide use and led to various social consequences.
Though in many writings Internet and Web are interchangeable words, this study focuses on the Web and on the first decade of its emergence and widespread use. The book does not address the use of other Internet applications, such as e-mail, file transfer, or chat rooms.
Early Development of the World Wide Web
The origin of the concept of the World Wide Web can be traced back to 1945, when Vannevar Bush first proposed a conceptual machine called Memex. The machine he envisioned could store vast amounts and various kinds of information and would give users the ability to link related items or illustrations and store them for future reference. In 1965, Ted Nelson coined the word hypertext to refer to nonsequential writing that branches and allows readers to make choices (Gromov, 2002). However, it was not until the early 1990s that the vision of Bush really became a reality.
In the late 1980s, the Internet had been in use for more than a decade. Its infrastructure had grown impressively; however, its network applications lagged far behind. E-mail and file transfer were the main activities on the Internet, and there were few user-friendly applications to attract novice users.