The Internet Revolution: The Not-for-Dummies Guide to the History, Technology, and Use of the Internet [Paperback]

J. R. Okin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2005

The Internet Revolution presents the complete history of the Internet - from its original design and engineering to its initial form as the world's first packet-switched computer network (the ARPANET) to its transformation into a privatized, commercial network and its emergence as today's international networking infrastructure. This book also presents a detailed explanation of how the Internet's technology works, why it works so well, how it is being used, and how it is managed. It also answers the question of why the Internet succeeded in bringing computer networking into the lives of so many people across the globe.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Who built the Internet? Who controls it, maintains it, makes decisions about what it can and cannot do and what types of information it may and may not carry? What does the Internet consist of and how does it work? This book answers these and many other questions about the Internet, its history, and its use.

It's difficult to avoid some reference to the Internet, no matter how hard we may try. It comes up in conversations with friends and family and in meetings at work. We hear about the Internet on radio and television programs as broadcasters awkwardly spell out their Internet site addresses. We see the Internet's effect on commerce everywhere we look, in its role as an entirely new and powerful medium for the distribution of all forms of advertising.

This change didn't happen overnight. But it definitely feels like it did. It took less than ten years after the Internet was privatized and opened up to commercial traffic in the early 1990s for it to become - quietly and unobstrusively - an integral component of our home life, our jobs, and the world's communication infrastructures, economies, and cultures. In the course of a few, frenetic years, the Internet has grown into an inexorable force that businesses, non-commercial organizations, governments, scientific and academic institutions, and individuals throughout the industrialized world have not only accepted but embraced.

Everywhere we look, we see more and more references to the Internet. That's because it is becoming part and parcel of everything we do. The Internet is changing how we raise and educate our children, how we stay connected with our families and friends, how, when, and where we perform our jobs, how we purchase our goods, how we read the weather forecast or our horoscope or send a birthday card. These changes in our behavior are fundamental and permanent, and they are becoming more pervasive with each passing year. Consequently, the Internet is changing us, our communities, our societies, and, as you will understand after reading this book, the very interconnectedness of our world.

From the Back Cover

Discover the REVOLUTION that is the INTERNET

This plain language guide explains:

- How computers evolved, and how they became the instrument of a revolution.

- Who designed and built the first computer network, and for what purpose.

- Why computer networking required the invention of a new type of communication network, and how a computer network differs from a telephone network.

- How the Internet was formed, and how it evolved from a private, experimental network into a public, commercial, global communication infrastructure.

- What the Internet consists of, how it works, and how it relates to the Web.

- How email was invented, how it works, and the role it played in transforming the Internet.

- What cyberspace consists of, how it is used today, and what it promises for how we will communicate, work, and play tomorrow.

- How and why the technology and management of the Internet fostered a revolution, and the strategies for success that made this possible.

"The Internet Revolution" is the first volume of a 3-book series that also includes:

- "The Information Revolution: The Not-For-Dummies Guide to the History, Technology, and Use of the World Wide Web" and

- "The Technology Revolution: The Not-For-Dummies Guide to the Impact, Perils, and Promise of the Internet."

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Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Ironbound Press (June 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0976385759
• ISBN-13: 978-0976385752
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,512,545 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent and accessible book on the internet, October 14, 2007

By 

Jessica Teel (Hawaii) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Internet Revolution: The Not-for-Dummies Guide to the History, Technology, and Use of the Internet (Hardcover)

The tongue in cheek subtitle of the book, "the not for dummies guide ..." is actually quite accurate- this is a book for smart people who want to understand the ins and outs of the internet in a sophisticated and thorough manner. That being said, it is extremely accessible to any reader, no matter what their previous level of computer knowledge. This book provides the history of the internet along with descriptions of how it actually functions. Likewise, this history probes questions about communication - its design, its future, and how the internet has revolutionized human communication on a global level. I find these questions fascinating, and this book provided me the history and technological explanations to explore them more deeply. People in the computer technology industry will find this book invaluable - it's a must read for technology students and professionals. Lay people, merely interested in knowing more about a technology they use every day, will find the book equally illuminating.
-Jessica Teel

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars accurate and readable, August 5, 2005

By 

W Boudville (Terra, Sol 3) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Internet Revolution: The Not-for-Dummies Guide to the History, Technology, and Use of the Internet (Hardcover)

The long subtitle is of course a jibe at the Dummies [and Idiots] books. Okin offers a more indepth explanation of what the Internet is, and how it grew. At a level very accessible to the general reader.

He traces its development from the ARPANET and the early days. When email was the first "killer app". Though the term is an ananchronism, and would not be invented till over 20 years after email. Email catalysed the first growth of the Internet, helping it spread to many universities and a few computer companies.

Okin then explains how, and still very recently, in 1991-2, the development of HTML and HTTP and the writing of the first browsers became the second killer app. This gave rise to the World Wide Web and the exposure of the Internet to a mass audience.

He offers a technically accurate and readable narrative of a still growing Internet.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Helpful to have on your bookshelf., October 14, 2007

By 

Jennifer Kline (Arizona) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Internet Revolution: The Not-for-Dummies Guide to the History, Technology, and Use of the Internet (Hardcover)

My daughter approached me recently needing help with her computer homework. She was stumped by the teacher's question, what is the difference between the internet and the world wide web? Neither of us knew the answer, but fortunately I had a copy of The Internet Revolution. We both looked up this question in the book, and found out that there was so much to learn about the internet, communication, and how this system we use every single day actually works. I highly recommend it for parents, teachers, and students (college and high school). Written in a straightforward and well organized fashion, The Internet Revolution is a valuable tool to have on your bookshelf. If there's one technology to learn about, it should be the internet - we use it constantly! If there's one book to buy to understand the internet, it is definitely the Internet Revolution Not For Dummies Guide.