Fun Facts About the Internet & Its Beginnings

Today, the internet is our digital bread and butter, the one-stop-shop for everything from cat videos to quantum physics tutorials. But rewind a few decades, and this global phenomenon was merely the scribble on a researcher’s notepad. No one could have predicted the path the internet would take nor it’s impact on society. Keep reading to learn more fun and interesting internet facts.

Let’s hit the rewind button and take a lighthearted jaunt back to the days when the Internet was in its infancy full of potential and surprises.

When Keywords Were Just Words with Keys Attached

The term “Internet” sounds like it’s been around forever, right? But it actually wasn’t a coined term until a full two decades after its conceptual birth. It was initially a military project known as ARPANET. In essence, what once began as a military initiative is now home to infinite cat memes. 

A Single “LO” Was The First Message

Imagine the pressure of sending the very first Internet message. It’s got to be profound and monumental; much like Alexander Graham Bell and the first telephone message.  The first ever attempt to send a message over the ARPANET was the word “login”. Unfortunately, the system crashed after the first two letters. Instead of “login”, the first internet message was a simple “lo”. Perhaps it was the precursor to LOL? 

There Was A Time When Spam Was Just A Canned Meat

Today, spam clogs our inboxes and tests our patience, but once upon a time, the only spam we knew came in a can. The first digital spam message was sent out in 1978 to a few hundred unsuspecting recipients. Perhaps the sender never imagined that his gesture would inspire a whole new category of electronic annoyance!

It’s All About Connections – Slow Ones

Their typing was slow, the connection was slower, but the ambitions? Lightning-fast! The first-ever public demonstration of the ARPANET involved linking 20 different computers and presenting the technology to an awestruck audience. These machine communicators may have been sluggish by today’s standards, but they were the harbingers of a new era of human interaction.

E-Commerce Started With a Bag of Weed (Allegedly)

Legend has it that the first e-commerce transaction ever was Stanford students buying marijuana from their MIT counterparts. While this may be shrouded in urban myth, it’s a hilarious thought that the precursor to your Amazon shopping spree was such a cheeky exchange.

Let’s Get Personal – From Giggle to Grin

It’s clear that the Internet has come a long way from its odd and funny beginnings. We’ve moved beyond “lo” and entered an age where limitless knowledge and connectivity are at our fingertips.

During their youth, Steve and Tammi encountered computers as a novel and mysterious technology. For example, back then, gaming consoles seemed archaic compared to today’s lifelike graphics. It wasn’t until the 1980s that computers became integrated into educational settings – without the internet (who had that?!). Pocket computers, or cell phones, didn’t gain widespread usage until the late 1990s. Access to the internet was a luxury the average person didn’t possess. Fast forward to today, and the world is interconnected in unimaginable ways—all stemming from the humble beginnings of a machine that could only utter “lo.”

Feeling nostalgic or just grateful for where we are today? Share your thoughts or fun facts about the internet with us, and let’s keep surfing through history together.

Contact Us Today for Better Internet

The Internet’s past might be funny, but your connection should be no joke. Contact us today at 707 433-8327 to bring a seamless internet connection to you.