Julia's Blog

Who knew that if you entered in to a browser “http://52.87.32.185” you would arrive at the Harvard emergency phone numbers site? Well, maybe Professor Waldo and Dean Smith already knew that, but I definitely did not. I’ve never thought about the meaning behind the words and characters I enter into my address bar in order to arrive at the site I’m looking for. However, now realizing I can enter four numbers that mean exactly the same thing, I recognize there’s much more to the process than my typing. There’s a whole name system that has many more parts and more meaning than I ever imagined. This realization made me think about how many other technological nuances I know nothing about. There are so many pieces of technology that I use every day, for more hours a day than I would like to admit, that I have absolutely no idea regarding the background of how they function. However, now I know that much more about the creation of the Internet and (some) of its inner-workings.

While IP addresses were an interesting part of today’s discussion, I was also intrigued by the introduction of the “gateway” to link networks together, thus leading to the creation of the Internet (with a capital I). I know feel as though I can fully appreciate the importance of the ARPAnet’s creation because that is what led to the need for gateways and the connection of many networks together, allowing the final product of a fully globally connected Internet to come about.

Finally, I’m very excited to be moving on to the implications of the Internet and technology in different aspects of the world we live in today. Beyond just the Internet which was perhaps the first major technological innovation that led us to the so-called “technological age” of today, there are so many other forms of technology that we can discuss that have growing impacts on our society. Using an example from today, will self-driving cars ever become fully reliable and safe? If so, that would be great, because I hate driving. However, this question and many others I’m hoping to discuss in future sessions.