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The Inventor Of The Internet

  • 14-08-2009 9:22am
    #1
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,467 ✭✭✭


    This just of kind of hit me yesterday..
    I realised that I had absolutely no Idea who invented the internet.

    After a bit of reading stuff it looks like no one person is solely responsible.
    There was a group working for DARPA back in the 60's who probably started the ball rolling, and a few monumental milestones developed in communication protocol by various people since.

    But probably the one person who can be credited for the world wide web as we know it now is Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee

    This guy has to be the single most unappreciated man alive.
    I mean.. Sweet Jesus Titty Fúcking Christ..
    He invented THE INTERNET!!

    He should be richer than Bill gates, and have had more women than Hugh Hefner, James Bond, and Russel Brand put together.

    Every single day for this guy should be spent knowing that he has contributed something so substantial to the world that it sometimes goes as unnoticed an taken for granted as electricity.

    His life should be a whirlwind of money, beautiful women, drugs, music, expensive toys, fast cars, even more beautiful women and more money.

    But alas no..
    Last year he was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences.. and won a Webby award.

    Most people don't even know his name.

    Until I get around to building the Monolithical statue of appreciation that this man deserves, this thread will have to do.


    Kudos sir..


Comments

  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,382 ✭✭✭petes


    Arpanet.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,458 ✭✭✭Irish Halo


    world wide web =/= internet

    Also first image on the web?
    http://musiclub.web.cern.ch/MusiClub/bands/cernettes/pictures/LHC5.jpg


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 15,258 ✭✭✭✭Rabies


    If the cave man that invented the wheel set up patent rights he'd be fairly rich too.... but he didn't


    The internet, what would be do with out it.

    Talk to people
    Buy paper back porn
    Play board games.
    Post letters and packages.
    Search in books for answers.
    Insurgent wrote: »
    Arpanet.
    Irish Halo wrote: »
    world wide web =/= internet
    Fussy feckers!!!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 25,070 ✭✭✭✭My name is URL


    and besides, he's fairly well appreciated =p


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 81,220 ✭✭✭✭biko




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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 41,926 ✭✭✭✭_blank_


    Was it not Al Gore?


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 88,972 ✭✭✭✭mike65


    The internet was invented by geeks in underground bunkers in the late 60s/early 70s, the world wide web was Tim Berners-Lee "eueka" moment.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,264 ✭✭✭Cookie Jar


    I thought it was chuck norris!


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 22,559 ✭✭✭✭AnonoBoy


    I wouldn't be at all surprised to find out that Chuck Norris/Jack Bauer/Vin Diesel/Rick Astley/whatever internet fad star you're having yourself had something to do with it.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 22,559 ✭✭✭✭AnonoBoy


    Cookie Jar wrote: »
    I thought it was chuck norris!

    See? What did I tells ya?


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,523 ✭✭✭✭Nerin


    Hes working on open source twitter like things. Cloud was in contact with him over tweet.ie and he was feeding some tweets into the open source one as a test.
    I only realised who the guy was when i went digging for who was sending my tweet.ie messages somewhere else.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,803 ✭✭✭El Siglo


    Cookie Jar wrote: »
    I thought it was chuck norris!

    No you fool it was "The Leader."


  • Registered Users Posts: 160 ✭✭golfnuts


    AnonoBoy wrote: »
    I wouldn't be at all surprised to find out that Chuck Norris/Jack Bauer/Vin Diesel/Rick Astley/whatever internet fad star you're having yourself had something to do with it.

    Dont forget The Hoff !!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,187 ✭✭✭keefg


    Wazdakka wrote: »




    But alas no..
    Last year he was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences.. and won a Webby award.



    He got a Knighthood from Ol' Queenie, they're worth a few quid ;)


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,383 ✭✭✭emeraldstar


    Wazdakka wrote: »
    This guy has to be the single most unappreciated man alive.
    I mean.. Sweet Jesus Titty Fúcking Christ..
    He invented THE INTERNET!!

    Most people don't even know his name.

    You mean you don't pray for him every day? He is my god.
    Rabies wrote: »
    The internet, what would be do with out it.

    Talk to people
    Buy paper back porn
    Play board games.
    Post letters and packages.
    Search in books for answers.

    I am so frickin glad that the internet was invented before I started college. Imagine how awful that would have been? I saw far too much of the library as it was.


    Tim Berners Lee, I salute you, my man.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,366 ✭✭✭✭rossie1977


    the internet and the www are not the same thing, berners lee and cern did create the www around 1990 or thereabouts but the internet and things like email were around since the late 60s early 70s, the internet was created by the us military scientists in association with a number of universities in the states


  • Moderators, Arts Moderators Posts: 17,231 Mod ✭✭✭✭Das Kitty


    Wazdakka wrote: »
    Most people don't even know his name.

    Most people don't know the names of any computer pioneers in fairness.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,366 ✭✭✭✭rossie1977


    Das Kitty wrote: »
    Most people don't know the names of any computer pioneers in fairness.

    exactly, most people don't know bills gates and his buddies just bought his first OS off another company and sold it to IBM as microsoft because they didn't have one of their own :eek:


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 20,759 ✭✭✭✭dlofnep


    Created by ARPA, Tim Berners Lee created the WWW. Basically, the ability to translate IP addresses into domains (87.22.33.44 => www.boards.ie) - so people wouldn't have to remember like 5000000 different ip addresses. It made the internet feasible for wide-spread use.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,382 ✭✭✭petes




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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,657 ✭✭✭komodosp


    He invented THE INTERNET!!
    He invented the WWW, not the Internet! There's a big difference!
    And lots of people know who he is... And appreciate him / it


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,187 ✭✭✭keefg


    komodosp wrote: »
    He invented the WWW, not the Internet! There's a big difference!

    I think in lay mans terms it's fair to say TBL invented the internet even though that isn't technically right.

    I mean, how many people do you hear say "I just booked some really cheap flights on the WWW"?


    Edit: Nerds & computer geeks don't count as real people.:)


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,657 ✭✭✭komodosp


    Even lay people use email, Bittorrent, game servers, etc. Not to mention broadband, wi-fi, and all that... which TBL didn't invent!

    The "Sweet Jesus Titty Fúcking Christ!" makes it sounds like he made the entire Internet and built every computer and technology on it...


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,467 ✭✭✭Wazdakka


    keefg wrote: »
    I think in lay mans terms it's fair to say TBL invented the internet even though that isn't technically right.

    I mean, how many people do you hear say "I just booked some really cheap flights on the WWW"?


    Edit: Nerds & computer geeks don't count as real people.:)

    +1

    But if it'll make everybody feel better I also extend thanks and kudos to everybody involved in the DARPA project


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 57 ✭✭smileyxx


    WE LOVE YOU TIMOTHY!


  • Registered Users Posts: 557 ✭✭✭drunkymonkey


    I heard a rumour that it was two stoners wanting to exchange their p0rn to each other on their computers! :rolleyes:


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 24,523 ✭✭✭✭Cookie_Monster


    Des wrote: »
    Was it not Al Gore?

    No, he invented the moon


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 17,190 ✭✭✭✭IvySlayer


    No, he invented the moon

    Always thought he was a bit of a lunar-tic.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,461 ✭✭✭--Kaiser--


    Wazdakka wrote: »
    This guy has to be the single most unappreciated man alive.
    I mean.. Sweet Jesus Titty Fúcking Christ..
    He invented THE INTERNET!!

    No, as people have said already, all he did was invent hyper-linked web pages which is a fairly nifty idea, but if he hadn't, someone else would have, it's not on par with the internal combustion engine or the microprocessor.

    ARPA Net spent decades and billions of dollars inventing and developing 'the internet', so if you have anyone to thank, it should be the US military.


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 747 ✭✭✭WillieCocker


    lol


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,467 ✭✭✭Wazdakka


    --Kaiser-- wrote: »
    No, as people have said already, all he did was invent...

    So why post it again?
    --Kaiser-- wrote: »
    but if he hadn't, someone else would have,
    Daftest statement ever.. You could try nail that on any invention I suppose.
    --Kaiser-- wrote: »
    It's not on par with the internal combustion engine or the microprocessor.

    I Disagree.
    --Kaiser-- wrote: »
    ARPA Net spends decades and billions of dollars inventing and developing 'the internet', so if you have anyone to thank, it should be the US military.

    I already mentioned them. Both in the original post and since..

    Anyway.. It's hard to make a thread thanking every code monkey who in any way contributed to the largest open source entity on the planet.

    Every organisation needs a face, every band a frontman.
    And for me ..
    The Intertoobz frontman is Timothy.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 5,082 ✭✭✭Pygmalion


    dlofnep wrote: »
    Created by ARPA, Tim Berners Lee created the WWW. Basically, the ability to translate IP addresses into domains (87.22.33.44 => www.boards.ie) - so people wouldn't have to remember like 5000000 different ip addresses. It made the internet feasible for wide-spread use.

    That's DNS, not WWW, it was possible to do this several years before the WWW existed AFAIK.

    Tim Berners-Lee created the first HTTP server and web browser.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,366 ✭✭✭✭rossie1977


    keefg wrote: »
    I think in lay mans terms it's fair to say TBL invented the internet even though that isn't technically right.

    I mean, how many people do you hear say "I just booked some really cheap flights on the WWW"?

    no because he didn't invent the internet, the internet was around for nearly 30 years before TBL created the WWW, lets just say ed sullivan created the television just for the hell of it :pac:


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,831 ✭✭✭genericguy


    Rabies wrote: »
    If the cave man that invented the wheel set up patent rights he'd be fairly rich too.... but he didn't


    The internet, what would be do with out it.

    Talk to people
    Buy paper back porn
    Play board games.
    Post letters and packages.
    Search in books for answers.

    paper back porn sounds absolutely mental to me.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,461 ✭✭✭--Kaiser--


    Wazdakka wrote: »

    Daftest statement ever.. You could try nail that on any invention I suppose.

    You're statement that Tim Berners-Lee 'invented' the Internet was far dafter.

    I think my point still stands, it wasn't a huge innovation and it didn't take a huge leap of imagination or intellect


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 24,523 ✭✭✭✭Cookie_Monster


    Rabies wrote: »
    Buy paper back porn

    Buy Porn?
    Don't think that'd catch on


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,476 ✭✭✭McArmalite


    Wazdakka wrote: »
    But probably the one person who can be credited for the world wide web as we know it now is Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee

    This guy has to be the single most unappreciated man alive.
    I mean.. Sweet Jesus Titty Fúcking Christ..
    He invented THE INTERNET!!
    According to the wiki link you provided about Timothy Berners-Lee he also invented with a Belgian geek called Robert Cailliau " On 25 December 1990, with the help of Robert Cailliau and a young student staff at CERN, he implemented the first successful communication between an HTTP client and server via the Internet. " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Cailliau

    A bit off topic, but the fellow who invented the mouse, Douglas Engelbart while doing projects with the Stanford Research Institute never bothered to patent it :eek:. During an interview he gave the reason why he did not patent it " Stanford Research Institute patented the mouse, but they really had no idea of its value. Some years later it was learned that they had licensed it to Apple for something like $40,000."

    Just think of the dosh he could have made from that if he copy righted it for himself :eek:


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,366 ✭✭✭✭rossie1977


    McArmalite wrote: »

    Just think of the dosh he could have made from that if he copy righted it for himself :eek:

    lots of people don't patent things though, the woman that created the "welcome to las vegas" sign is a great example, that symbol has been used everywhere over the years and its image could have made her a billionaire if only she copyrighted it http://z.about.com/d/gosw/1/0/O/6/1vegas.jpg


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 720 ✭✭✭kierank01


    nobody seems to have mentioned Vint Cerf, who is often called 'the father of the internet'


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,380 ✭✭✭geeky


    Read an interview with him not too long ago. Came across as a very nice, unassuming man. As previous posters have said, he didn't invent the internet, but www was a huge leap, and the decision to give it away free changed the world.

    He's not Bill Gates rich, but he'll never want for a well-paid job doing what he likes. He deserves that, and a lot of kudos!


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,314 ✭✭✭sink


    FYI TCP/IP is the protocol suite of the internet. It's robust packet switching design which is independent of hardware specifications made a global interconnected commercial network feasible and it was invented by two men, Robert E. Kahn and Vint Cerf while working for ARPA. If you are going to credit anyone with the invention of the internet it is these two men.


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