# What year would you say the Internet was born? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 25, 2013, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-year-would-you-say-the-internet-was-born/659330 "2013-05-25T18:30:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![donnie\_darko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@donnie\_darko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/donnie_darko)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2013, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-year-would-you-say-the-internet-was-born/659330/41 "2013-06-02T21:27:33Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > I moved to California from NJ in 1996, and I was seeing them well before that - '93 or '94 perhaps. > But the real change was when Sun started shipping workstations without C compilers, assuming correctly that non-programmers would use them > _grumble grumble_ get off my digital lawn. It couldn’t have been '93 since the URL system wasn’t even created until 1994. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2013, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-year-would-you-say-the-internet-was-born/659330/42 "2013-06-02T23:41:17Z")
Of course Asimov did it first with Multivac, which first appeared in “The Last Question” in the November 1956 issue of Science Fiction Quarterly. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2013, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-year-would-you-say-the-internet-was-born/659330/43 "2013-06-03T03:09:58Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > Of course Asimov did it first with Multivac, which first appeared in “The Last Question” in the November 1956 issue of Science Fiction Quarterly. The Machine Stops by Forster was long before that, and had home terminals also. IIRC, Multivac was more of a mainframe. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2013, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-year-would-you-say-the-internet-was-born/659330/44 "2013-06-03T03:23:56Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > I’d go with the advent of domain name addressing, in 1983. [Cite](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domain_name#History). Before then we sent email going through known mail nodes like decvax, ucbvax and ihnp4, > AOL was definitely not the internet, since you dialed into specific AOL servers and were isolated from anyone else. That’s no more the Internet than PLATO, which I used in 1974, was. In any case I got an ISP and was able to bop around using Archie and Veronica sometime in the late 1980s, long before the Web started. Bingo! We have a winner. The internet was definitely around, definitely popular, and definitely even used for porn prior to 1994. 1994 was just the point when the unwashed masses (so to speak) got hold of it via the Web. I started college in fall of 1991, and we used usenet newsreaders, chat clients, MUDs, and sent email all over the place that first semester I was there. All the Web really did is make it prettier, and to a great extent, slower. Claiming that the Internet began in 1994 is about as dumb as saying that Metallica started in 1991 with the Black Album, because it was the first widely popular one. Or that Alice In Chains, Nirvana or Soundgarden started in 1992-1993 because that’s when grunge got popular. All 3 bands were active in the late 1980s; When something becomes widely popular does not equal the point when it started. I’d have thought the Dope would be smarter than that. ---
**Author:** ![Find\_Friends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@Find\_Friends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Find_Friends)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2013, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-year-would-you-say-the-internet-was-born/659330/45 "2013-06-06T14:22:13Z")
> [@NoClueBoy](#): > > When it became self aware. **WE ARE NOT SELF-AWARE!** Uh oh… ---
**Author:** ![Vaevictis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f04885/32.png) [@Vaevictis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vaevictis)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2013, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-year-would-you-say-the-internet-was-born/659330/46 "2013-06-06T16:53:53Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Bingo! We have a winner. > > The internet was definitely around, definitely popular, and definitely even used for porn prior to 1994. > > 1994 was just the point when the unwashed masses (so to speak) got hold of it via the Web. > > I started college in fall of 1991, and we used usenet newsreaders, chat clients, MUDs, and sent email all over the place that first semester I was there. > > All the Web really did is make it prettier, and to a great extent, slower. > > Claiming that the Internet began in 1994 is about as dumb as saying that Metallica started in 1991 with the Black Album, because it was the first widely popular one. Or that Alice In Chains, Nirvana or Soundgarden started in 1992-1993 because that’s when grunge got popular. All 3 bands were active in the late 1980s; > > When something becomes widely popular does not equal the point when it started. I’d have thought the Dope would be smarter than that. My experience exactly. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2013, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-year-would-you-say-the-internet-was-born/659330/47 "2013-06-06T17:04:19Z")
> [@bump](#): > > When something becomes widely popular does not equal the point when it started. I’d have thought the Dope would be smarter than that. This is GD, not GQ. Given that the OP came up with the same year but for a different reason shows that there’s no one “correct” answer to this question. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2013, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-year-would-you-say-the-internet-was-born/659330/48 "2013-06-06T18:02:28Z")
1. Not when it became popular, but when it first had utility for normal people. ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2013, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-year-would-you-say-the-internet-was-born/659330/49 "2013-06-06T18:59:14Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > The Internet was born when the first porn site went up. No, actually 9 months after that. ---
**Author:** ![mashedbutton1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ed655f/32.png) [@mashedbutton1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mashedbutton1)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-year-would-you-say-the-internet-was-born/659330/50 "2013-07-24T11:59:27Z")
Who cares! Your topics are insane! Talk about real issues! Decadology is for the insane, stupid and crazy. It’s a disease. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-year-would-you-say-the-internet-was-born/659330/51 "2013-07-24T13:12:19Z")
> [@mashedbutton1](#): > > Who cares! Your topics are insane! > Talk about real issues! > > Decadology is for the insane, stupid and crazy. It’s a disease. Would you like a banana? . ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-year-would-you-say-the-internet-was-born/659330/52 "2013-07-24T13:19:54Z")
Uh… reported? ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-year-would-you-say-the-internet-was-born/659330/53 "2013-07-24T13:34:50Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Uh… reported? [Let him have his banana.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=697212) 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-year-would-you-say-the-internet-was-born/659330/54 "2013-07-24T13:36:31Z")
> [@mashedbutton1](#): > > Who cares! Your topics are insane! > Talk about real issues! > > Decadology is for the insane, stupid and crazy. It’s a disease. This is not a habit you should get into: posting in a thread just to tell everybody you think the topic is stupid. (Nevermind that this thread had been inactive for weeks.) If you find the topic boring, just ignore it and find another thread that actually interests you. Or if that’s impossible for you here, find another board that’s more to your liking. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-year-would-you-say-the-internet-was-born/659330/55 "2013-07-24T16:35:28Z")
> [@mashedbutton1](#): > > Decadology is for the insane, stupid and crazy. It’s a disease. I’m sorry you feel so strongly about the study of the Digital Equipment Company. Perhaps Data General suits you better? ---
**Author:** ![Rucksinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/898d66/32.png) [@Rucksinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rucksinator)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2013, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-year-would-you-say-the-internet-was-born/659330/56 "2013-07-24T23:28:08Z")
Resurecting threads and threadshitting are both frowned on around here. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2013, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-year-would-you-say-the-internet-was-born/659330/57 "2013-07-25T12:25:45Z")
I’d say it was 1981. That’s when CSNET was created, which linked to ARPANET. An internet is a connection of two or more networks, with the original networks still remaining separate, and that’s what such a connection provided. You need not wait until 1982 when TCP/IP was adopted on ARPANET–it was already being used to connect it to CSNET (at least, based on what little I could glean from Wikipedia on the subject.) And the actual protocol is not relevant, even though it happened to be TCP/IP. The point is that it’s two separate networks being connected, without one being subsumed into the other. That’s what an internet is. I also don’t think it’s relevant when it became popular or useful or whatever, anymore than any other physical thing is defined by those concepts. That would just be the dawn of the Internet Age–a time period, not an object. I guess I could see the argument that CSNET meeting ARPANET was the conception, and it wasn’t actually born until the date the OP cites. It was just gestating. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2013, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-year-would-you-say-the-internet-was-born/659330/58 "2013-07-25T12:31:36Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > This is GD, not GQ. Given that the OP came up with the same year but for a different reason shows that there’s no one “correct” answer to this question. That doesn’t mean that all answers are correct, though. I don’t understand the idea that popularity determines when any object is born. Was computer only born after the PC revolution? Was the TV born only when most people had one in their homes? Was airplane flight born only after commercial airlines existed? ---
**Author:** ![donnie\_darko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@donnie\_darko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/donnie_darko)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2013, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-year-would-you-say-the-internet-was-born/659330/59 "2013-07-28T23:02:38Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I’d say it was 1981. That’s when CSNET was created, which linked to ARPANET. An internet is a connection of two or more networks, with the original networks still remaining separate, and that’s what such a connection provided. You need not wait until 1982 when TCP/IP was adopted on ARPANET–it was already being used to connect it to CSNET (at least, based on what little I could glean from Wikipedia on the subject.) > > And the actual protocol is not relevant, even though it happened to be TCP/IP. The point is that it’s two separate networks being connected, without one being subsumed into the other. That’s what an internet is. I also don’t think it’s relevant when it became popular or useful or whatever, anymore than any other physical thing is defined by those concepts. That would just be the dawn of the Internet Age–a time period, not an object. > > I guess I could see the argument that CSNET meeting ARPANET was the conception, and it wasn’t actually born until the date the OP cites. It was just gestating. Yeah, I would say the Internet as an object existed by some point in the early 1980s, that’s pretty indisputable. The Internet Age probably began some time in between 1995 and 2000 in the West and between 2005 and 2010 in a global context. Prior to 1994/95 there weren’t a lot of “ordinary” people using the Net for recreational use but it had already existed for over a decade by that point in roughly the same way it does now (sans the Web). ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2013, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-year-would-you-say-the-internet-was-born/659330/60 "2013-07-30T22:16:22Z")
I can still find my first posts on Usenet from early 1990 by a simple Google search on my college email address. Back then, you had to fill out an application with some justification for why you needed access (and get a faculty member to sign it) to allow you to send email or post outside the bounds of the university. I maintained Internet access for a couple of years after graduation by dialing my university server from across the country, before they finally got around to canceling my account. I then jumped on Delphi (a dial-up service), and then AOL. So for me, from 1990 to 1997, “the Internet” meant Usenet. In 1997, one of my grad school profs dragged my class to a computer lab to show us the Web, proclaiming it a great research tool. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-year-would-you-say-the-internet-was-born/659330.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-year-would-you-say-the-internet-was-born/659330.md?page=4)