Homework 1: The Internet and its Past

The Internet is a network of networks, connected to one another by communication lines globally.

Although the Interent is reletively new, it has grown to be one of the must haves in modern day life.

History of the Internet

The Internet grew out of an experiment which begun in the 1960s by the U.S. Department of Defense; who wanted to create a computer network that would work under harsh situations (like war). That network was ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network) which linked U.S. scientific and academic researchers.

The early Internet users were computer experts, engineers, scientists, and librarians. Unlike today, the early Internet was a very complex system that not many could understand and use.

As the functions of the Internet were standardized (e.g. e-mail), it became a lot easier for non-technical people to learn to use it. Although it was not easy by today's standards, it did open up use of the Internet to many more people.

Women and the Internet

Historically, the technological realm has been dominated by men, but it is wrong to believe that women have not contributed to scientific advancement. Actually, women's contributions to science and technical advances has often been undermined and silenced in order to enhance and advance the masculine discourse. According to Helen Fallon, women's contributions have been ignored, when in fact women have been responsible for several important inventions, including the sewing machine, the electric mower, the printing press and computers. Fallon explains that during the 40's, women created information processing systems which contiune to be used today. Unfortunately, the lack of women in the Sciences does not provide many role models for young girls who are interested in science and technology.

However little women may feel connected with technology, they involve themselves within the technological realm of the Internet. Researches like Winter and Huff found that women are unsing the Internet to communicate with other women. Women were more comfortable "chatting" with other females online, as compared to "chatting" with males.

References

Ross Shannon (2007). The History of the Net. Retrieved from www.yourhtmlsource.com/starthere/historyofthenet.html on 19 Jan 08.

Women and the Internet: An Exploratory Study of Feminist Experiences in Cyberspace. Retrieved from www.netwomen.ca/research/litrev.htm on 19 Jan 08.