Happy 30th Birthday, Internet!

Oh, Internet. What can we say about such a loyal and knowledgable friend that has been with us for such a long time? What did we ever do before you were in our lives? Read books, I presume. Blerch. Anyway, it’s the 30th birthday of the internet we know and love today. INTERNET PARTY IN HERE!

Ahem.

The internet was born after the founders of what was then known as the ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network) switched over from Network Control Protocol (NCP) to Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP). The birth of TCP/IP heralded the beginning of the internet we now know and love today.

Not everyone was such a fan of the new TCP/IP protocol at first, so the ARPANET’s admins simply demonstrated their power by shutting off NCP for a day or so to encourage people to shift. Thank goodness nothing has been that dramatic in the changeover to IPv6.

The changeover to IPv6 came last year as the Internet Protocol’s address system, IPv4, ran out of addresses. Thankfully we’re in a world now where changing protocols is relatively easy and turning off the whole internet isn’t something that we need to be afraid of.

Happy 30th Birthday, Internet. We love you.

What’s the best thing you’ve seen on the internet?