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The Internet
The Internet originated from an American military research project,
ARPA (Advanced Research Project Agency), in the mid-1960s. It was developed during the
Cold War to enable the armed forces to maintain their lines of |
communication even in the event of a nuclear war.
One important factor governing the development of the Internet was
that a centrally controlled network with a main computer was out of the question, as it
would have definitely been a target for enemy missiles. The Internet's decentral structure
was born.
In the late 1960s, the Internet was primarily used to exchange
information associated with research and training. The reason that it was primarily used
in educational institutions was quite simply that most of the supercomputers were located
there.
In this context, it is worth remembering that IBM's first personal
computer did not see the light of day until the early 1980s and that access to the few
supercomputers was strictly limited.
The Internet today
Nowadays, many home computers are bigger and stronger than the
supercomputers of yesteryear. As a result, we all have the opportunity to send computer
letters (e-mails) to computers connected to the Internet anywhere in the world from our
living rooms.
We also have the opportunity to explore the World Wide Web (WWW). On
the Web, there is in fact no limit to the information that you can find in the form of
text, sound, pictures and video.
It is reckoned that there are now more than 100,000,000 users of the
Internet around the world and the number of computers connected to the world-wide Net
doubles every year.
Many Danish libraries contain computers with free access to the
Internet. If you have not tried it before, librarians are always on hand to help.
The motif on the stamp is Post Denmark's website. The illustration
on the front page is of Denmark's first stamp issued in 1851, symbolising the ample
opportunities provided by the Internet to locate information from both the past and the
present. |
