The Future Of Computer Technology In The End Of The 20th Century

765 Words2 Pages

At 11:59 on December 31, 1999 many people around the world waited in uncertainty of what would happen when the new millennium comes. The year on all computers would turn from 99 to 00. People feared that computers would read 00 as 1900 instead of 2000 and all computers would crash. All computer technology could fail causing unpredictable disasters and worldwide crisis. The Y2K problem and the panic it caused reflects how reliant the world had become on computer technology toward the end of the twentieth century. In the 90’s, new technology grew rapidly and significantly changed business, communication, and education in the United States.
The internet was first proposed in 1962 as a defense strategy against the Soviet Union during the Cold War by a scientist from M.I.T. (Weintraut). The U.S. feared that the Soviets could attack and destroy the U.S. telephone lines (Invention). The M.I.T. scientist suggested a “galactic network” of computers that would allow the government to communicate even if the telephone lines were disabled (Invention). In 1965, the government created a computer network called the ARPAnet in order to communicate independent of telephone systems (Weintraut). The idea of a “galactic network” transformed into a worldwide network during the 1980’s (Invention). In 1991 , a “programmer in Switzerland named Tim Berners-Lee introduced the World Wide Web: an Internet that was not simply a way to” communicate, but was a web of information that anyone on the Internet could access (Invention). The internet did not gain use on a large scale until October of 1993 when the first graphics-based browser software called Mosaic was developed which ignited the exponential growth of the World Wide Web (Palmer). The internet had...

... middle of paper ...

...r distractions. If the internet started more recently, its content would be more pure, similar to the way it was in the late twentieth century. Today, technology has become as much as a distraction as it a useful learning tool in education. Students commonly play games on their iphones or text their friends in class instead of paying attention, learning, and staying on task with classwork and homework. Although the internet and other new technology from the 90’s is very beneficial and useful, it has several negative effects as well.
Overall, new technology and internet has improved the way of life in the United States and even the world. The internet enables us to do many things that were previously unimaginable and is accessible to everyone and anyone around the world. The world today has become completely reliant on the internet and computer technology.

Open Document