# First internet protocol... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 21, 2002, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-internet-protocol/133255 "2002-10-21T16:27:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![FattyMelon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbce88/32.png) [@FattyMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FattyMelon)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2002, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-internet-protocol/133255/1 "2002-10-21T16:27:44Z")
is? ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2002, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-internet-protocol/133255/2 "2002-10-21T16:47:25Z")
The first Arpanet connection was a simple Telnet logon connection. FTP was developed at the same time but was the 2nd to be actually used. Email came “much later”. [Link](http://www.dei.isep.ipp.pt/docs/arpa--2.html). ---
**Author:** ![FattyMelon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbce88/32.png) [@FattyMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FattyMelon)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2002, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-internet-protocol/133255/3 "2002-10-21T16:52:40Z")
aye! thx! i found that link but i understood nothing from it ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2002, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-internet-protocol/133255/4 "2002-10-21T17:16:05Z")
FWIW, the first email app was a simple combination of a local (single machine) program for sending messages to users of that machine, and a file transfer mechanism. Put the two together, and you can send a message to a user on another machine. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2002, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-internet-protocol/133255/5 "2002-10-21T19:49:25Z")
Wouldn’t the first internet protocol have been…Internet Protocol (IP)? A wizard can correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think that there’s anything in the specs of Telnet, FTP, SMTP, HTTP, etc that _requires_ them to run on IP. It’s just more convenient to have the packet switching and addressing mechanism, which is what IP is, to be the same across the board. ---
**Author:** ![Urban\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Urban\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urban_Ranger)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2002, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-internet-protocol/133255/6 "2002-10-22T12:09:32Z")
TCP/IP ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2002, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-internet-protocol/133255/7 "2002-10-22T12:49:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Terminus Est \* > \*\*Wouldn’t the first internet protocol have been…Internet Protocol (IP)? A wizard can correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think that there’s anything in the specs of Telnet, FTP, SMTP, HTTP, etc that _requires_ them to run on IP. It’s just more convenient to have the packet switching and addressing mechanism, which is what IP is, to be the same across the board. \*\* It depends what you mean by “first Internet protocol” anyway. The original Arpanet stuff did not run on IP at all.