The world would be a very different place without the internet.
The shared space of GIFs, memes and social media was actually born in 1969. It wasn’t the Internet as we know it, but the first computer networks centered around California-based research institutions.
It was at the height of the Cold War in the 1960’s, the big fear was nuclear war. One of the chief concerns was that if a nuclear attack happened could the United States prevent it or communicate fast enough to deal with it?
To shore up this issue, during the 1960’s the military developed computer communication lines that spanned the country using telephone lines.
But by 1969, the Defense Department's focus turned from military to research. The funding went into an agency called Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA).
The problem was research institutions across the country were far apart and couldn’t easily share information.
The loss of time is a loss of innovation. Loss of innovation is a deficit in the Cold War. To further technological research, ARPA designed what’s called the ARPAnet.
The idea was interesting instead of a network with a dedicated telephone line ARPAnet would send packets of information along several lines.
That’s oversimplifying. But you get the idea. It’s how one of the key forerunners for how the Internet functions today.
In December of 1969, ARPAnet established its first four nodes. They were at University of California Los Angeles, University of California Santa Barbara, Stanford University and the University of Utah. After they were connected, ARPAnet was online.
It grew and expanded adding other institutions and government agencies, until the government shut it down in the late 80s.
During that time some of the basic protocols and trails for what would become the internet were blazed by ARPAnet. With those original four nodes we get a good look at where the tech focus of the country was: California.