History
The Internet Age
The internet age is the point where computing left the machine room and entered everyday life. It is the story of computers being connected to one another, first in the hundreds, then in the billions, until the network mattered more than any single machine on it.
It began with ARPANET, a research network funded by the United States that sent its first message between two computers in 1969. Through the 1970s, Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn designed the TCP/IP protocols that let separate networks join into one, and on 1 January 1983 the network adopted them, the moment usually taken as the birth of the modern internet.
What turned the internet into something ordinary people used was the World Wide Web, invented by Tim Berners-Lee in 1989 and given away for free. Within a decade the web had spread worldwide, followed by search engines, smartphones and social networks. The most recent chapter, the rise of large-scale artificial intelligence trained on data from across the web, is still being written.
Frequently asked
When did the internet age begin?
The internet grew from ARPANET, which sent its first message in 1969, and became the modern internet when it adopted TCP/IP in 1983. The World Wide Web, which brought it to the public, arrived in 1989.
When did the internet become available to the public?
The World Wide Web opened the internet to the general public. Tim Berners-Lee invented it in 1989 and it was given away for free. Within a decade the web had spread worldwide, followed by search engines, smartphones and social networks. The network underneath is older, going back to ARPANET in 1969, but before the web it was mainly a research tool.