California Beaches Blog

University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) had a hand in the launch of the Internet 40 years ago. And today they partied like it’s 1969.   A celebration and forum at UCLA was lead by Leonard Kleinrock, a computer science professor of the university, who was on hand today, recalling another day in history not so long ago. It was  October 29, 1969, when he  headed a team to send the first message over the ARPANET, which later became the Internet. Researchers, professors, computer  analysts and industry leaders gathered to celebrate and commemorate the 40th anniversary of the birth of Internet.

When it was launched, some imagined the enormity of what was to come, but none knew exactly how long it would take or what kind of adult the newborn would eventually become. The technological revolution has transformed communications, education, culture, business and entertainment across the globe, leading to dramatic changes in our social, political and economic lives.

Eric Schmidt, chief executive officer at California-based Google, envisions a radically changed Internet dominated by social media content, and delivered over super-fast bandwidth in real time. In five years or less,  people will listen more to other people than to traditional sources, he believes. At Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California, additional events will celebrate the 40 year mark, just as computer sales have slumped and the economy has had an impact on the value of stock at the largest Internet firms such as Google, Amazon, Ebay, and Microsoft.

“The 1969 connection was not just a symbolic milestone in the project that led to the Internet, but in the whole idea of connecting computers and eventually billions of people to each other,” said Marc Weber, founding curator of the museum’s Internet History Program.

ARPANET took a crucial step toward the online world that links nearly a third of the world’s population today.  Four decades after its birth, the Internet is seen by some to have encountered a middle-age crisis while  others believe it is in its infancy still.

As traditional print media sources around the globe struggle to figure out how to market their news products, there’s one thing for sure. The Internet will continue to grow, and grow. If predictions are true that in five years people will listen more to each other, the news organizations are no doubt scrambling at this moment to figure out how to make a profit in this brave new Internet-based world. Here’s to many more birthdays. Happy Birthday to You!