Internet/World Wide Web/Wi-Fi/Bluetooth

The Internet is defined as a worldwide network that interconnects all computers where people can find information and communicate with others. It was created by Robert Kahn and Vinton Kerf in the 1960’s in the United States. These men were known as computer scientists that created a protocol known as TCP/IP, which gave the Internet its name today. Even though there were functioning networks before these two experts created the Internet, none were as successful and impactful as what they achieved. At first, the Internet was born for military purposes and then continued to help so the government could communicate with the nation and officials. With time, the Internet was also important for scientists to communicate. Today, we use the Internet to search for information, entertainment, and even social media. The purpose of the Internet changed with the years to fit the new norms and needs of our society.

The World Wide Web is known as all the websites and that the public can access through the internet on their devices and computers. In these websites, we can find information, tools, games or whatever we need or are looking for. In other words, the World Wide Web forms part of the Internet. The World Wide Web was created by a British physicist called Tim Berners-Lee. With some help from colleagues, Berners-Lee was able to create the system in 1989. Originally, the World Wide Web was used mostly by scientists for communicating and sharing information, specifically in different universities. At that time, the web was mostly and only used for scientific purposes. Now, the World Wide Web is used for our entertainment. We now recognize it as our encyclopedia that permits us easy access to anything we want like movies, information, music, etc.

The Internet and the World Wide Web are not the same thing. The World Wide Web can be considered as a part of the Internet. The Internet is the entire network, meanwhile, the WWW can be seen as websites and everything we can find inside. In other words, the Internet is the mainframe and while World Wide Web is a small aspect. These two creations work side by side to ensure that the Internet runs smoothly like a partnership. Without one or the other, the Internet would not be what it is today. Now, I know the differences between the World Wide Web and the Internet.

On August 6, 1991, the first website was created on the World Wide Web and technology was forever changed. This innovation was used to explain what the World Wide Web was for and how to use it. It was created by computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee, who also created the World Wide Web. This website was known as the “instructions” of the WWW. This website taught people to design other pages and what coding is. The website is technically still up but it does not work as it once did. Now, the information is minimal and does not fulfill the purpose it once did. The URL is http://info.cern.ch/hypertext/WWW/TheProject.html. Today, this website is empty but remains a pillar in technological history, along with Berners-Lee's role in the creation of the World Wide Web.

Hedy Lamarr was a world-renowned actress who later, helped create Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. In 1932, she began her acting career, hiding the beauty of her brain from the world. After many years in the entertainment industry, she met George Antheil in 1940. When they formed their friendship, they realized that they were both concerned over the upcoming war. With the knowledge she had from her previous marriage to a pilot, she and Antheil were able to change the world. They created a communication system that worked through waves of frequencies to guide torpedoes in the war. Sadly, due to her project being rejected by the Navy, she was not recognized for her invention for a long time and did not get any profit from it. She continued to act and many years later, she was awarded for her creation. Even after her death in 2000, she was getting recognized and is now called the “mother of Wi-Fi". In fact, there is a song written about her named “This Is A Song For Miss Hedy Lamarr.” It was written by Johnny Depp and Jeff Beck and was released in 2022. It is amazing to see that a woman is the inventor of one of the most important inventions of humankind and technology today. It demonstrates how powerful women really are and how we can cause profound changes to benefit our futures.

Bluetooth is known as a system of wireless technology that permits mobile devices to connect to other devices or networks. This is mostly used with speakers, cars, and headphones to share audio, visuals or just information. It was created in 1994 by Jaap Haarsten. He is a Dutch electrical engineer who has been involved with wireless connections for many years. His invention has changed technology and affected so many people in a positive way. Bluetooth was named after King Harald “Bluetooth” Gormsson. He was known for having a dead tooth that had a dark blue color, giving him that nickname. How does the name relate to the wireless connection? In 1996, some investors and Haarsten’s collaborators met and decided to name it because this king was known for uniting Scandinavia. To them, it represented the connection between devices and the technology they were creating. The logo looks the way it does because the symbols are the king’s initials in binded runes. All this information on Bluetooth has greatly surprised me and I look forward to finding out more.

Wi-fi is one of the many inventions in the world that has become essential for technology to work. If you ask me, it is one of the most important aspects of technology because it permits the use of computers, phones, and the internet. Many people believe that it was created by actress, Hedy Lamarr, but she is more responsible for developing an idea and technology that helped initiate the creation of Wi-Fi. In reality, it was created by Vic Hayes in 1997, when he was the director of the committee that presented wireless networking. Vic Hayes is known as the “Father of Wi-fi". The original name of Wi-Fi was WaveLan, and then was named Wi-Fi by a marketing firm called WECA in the late 90’s. WECA is known as a nonprofit organization that promotes the importance of Wi-Fi and its usage.