In this paper I'd like to explore the future of the 'net, but in so doing I'll talk about its past and present. Only in this way can one really talk about where the Internet is going.

The Internet is, by historical standards, a recent development. But not nearly so recent as many might think. Most people think that the 'net has only been around for the last four or so years. This is because the 'net has only been in the news for the last four or so years. It is, in fact quite a bit older than that.

The Internet can trace its roots back to Cold War America. In the early 1960s the RAND corporation, a military think tank, was asked to come up with a reliable way for America to communicate in a post-nuclear situation. A command and control system that would survive nuclear assault. What the

William Gibson's "matrix" is different from what we have now, but the idea is the same. The Internet very well could evolve into what he talks about, depending on where human interface technology goes in the years ahead. Twelve years ago he wrote a book that roughly predicted the development of the 'net. Who's to say it doesn't continue to develop along the lines he predicted?

Card's NewsNets seem a logical outgrowth of the UseNet. People are free to post in any of the public "Nets" and if people like what they say then they are invited to join the higher level, private "Nets". In Card's book one of the characters rises to be the equivalent of president by using the "NewsNets" and gaining more and more of the peoples' favor.

(Bruce Sterling's Hisotry of the Internet is a very interesting read, if you're interested.)

Every year it gets easier to expand computers. New operating systems are making a point of including easy Internet integration and many new computers come with built in ethernet support. In the not so distant future connecting a computer to the Internet will be as simple as plugging a telephone into the wall.

So....right now the Internet is a thing in flux. It changes radically every year and nothing about it truly constant. Where will it be in the next 20 year? In the next 50 years? In the next 100? How can we even go about predicting?

The Internet now is different things to different people. The general public its a media event. Most people don't use the 'net regularly and play around on the Web once in a while and read about it in Magazines. The general public doesn't really understand what the Internet is, but they've been told that its going to be very important in the future and that its going to make people rich. The incredible, unprecedented, and undeserved success of Netscape's initial stock offering is a statement as to the public's feeling towards and understanding of the Internet.

( Hobbes Internet Timeline has alot of information of information on the growth of the Internet.)

Some common words found in the essay are:
Internet Internet, Wide Web, Cyberspace Neuromancer, ARPANet Internet, Snow Crash, War America, England Norway, Science Foundation, Gibson's Cyberspace, Future Internet, internet internet, internet people, people internet, internet future, wide web, nsfnet backbone, science fiction, global network, novel snow crash, growth internet, world wide web, access providers, email communicate friends, using email communicate,
Approximate Word count = 3143
Approximate Pages = 13 (250 words per page double spaced)