Editing History of the Internet (section)

===Internet use in wider society===
The invention of the [[World Wide Web]] by [[Tim Berners-Lee]] at [[CERN]], as an application on the Internet,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tobin |first=James |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XXalQ6BTkyQC&pg=PT389 |title=Great Projects: The Epic Story of the Building of America, from the Taming of the Mississippi to the Invention of the Internet |date=2012-06-12 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-0-7432-1476-6 |language=en}}</ref> brought many social and commercial uses to what was, at the time, a network of networks for academic and research institutions.<ref>{{Cite book |last=In |first=Lee |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wKyeBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA7 |title=Electronic Commerce Management for Business Activities and Global Enterprises: Competitive Advantages: Competitive Advantages |date=2012-06-30 |publisher=IGI Global |isbn=978-1-4666-1801-5 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Misiroglu |first=Gina |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j4KsBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA398 |title=American Countercultures: An Encyclopedia of Nonconformists, Alternative Lifestyles, and Radical Ideas in US History: An Encyclopedia of Nonconformists, Alternative Lifestyles, and Radical Ideas in US History |date=2015-03-26 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-47729-7 |language=en}}</ref> The Web opened to the public in 1991 and began to enter general use in 1993–4, when [[List of websites founded before 1995|websites for everyday use]] started to become available.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Couldry |first1=Nick |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AcHvP9trbkAC&pg=PA2 |title=Media, Society, World: Social Theory and Digital Media Practice |date=2012 |publisher=Polity Press |isbn=978-0-7456-3920-8 |location=London |page=2}}</ref>[[File:Russia-Denmark 1993-envelope.jpg|thumb|[[Stamped envelope]] of [[Russian Post]] issued in 1993 with stamp and graphics dedicated to first Russian [[Submarine communications cable#Optical telecommunications cables|underwater digital optic cable]] laid in 1993 by [[Rostelecom]] from [[Kingisepp]] to [[Copenhagen]]]]
During the first decade or so of the public Internet, the immense changes it would eventually enable in the 2000s were still nascent. In terms of providing context for this period, [[cellphone|mobile cellular devices]] ("smartphones" and other cellular devices) which today provide near-universal access, were used for business and not a routine household item owned by parents and children worldwide. [[Social media]] in the modern sense had yet to come into existence, laptops were bulky and most households did not have computers. Data rates were slow and most people lacked means to video or digitize video; media storage was transitioning slowly from [[analog tape]] to [[digital data|digital]] [[optical disc]]s ([[DVD]] and to an extent still, [[floppy disc]] to [[CD]]). Enabling technologies used from the early 2000s such as [[PHP]], modern [[JavaScript]] and [[Java (programming language)|Java]], technologies such as [[AJAX]], [[HTML 4]] (and its emphasis on [[CSS]]), and various [[software framework]]s, which enabled and simplified speed of web development, largely awaited invention and their eventual widespread adoption.

The Internet was widely used for [[mailing list]]s, [[email]]s, [[Internet GIS|creating and distributing maps]] with tools like [[MapQuest]], [[e-commerce]] and early popular [[online shopping]] ([[Amazon.com|Amazon]] and [[eBay]] for example), [[online forum]]s and [[bulletin board]]s, and personal websites and [[blog]]s, and use was growing rapidly, but by more modern standards, the systems used were static and lacked widespread social engagement. It awaited a number of events in the early 2000s to change from a communications technology to gradually develop into a key part of global society's infrastructure.

Typical design elements of these "Web 1.0" era websites included:<ref>{{cite conference |last1=Viswanathan |first1=Ganesh |last2=Dutt Mathur |first2=Punit |last3=Yammiyavar |first3=Pradeep |title=From Web 1.0 to Web 2.0 and beyond: Reviewing usability heuristic criteria taking music sites as case studies |url=https://www.academia.edu/8381037 |date=March 2010 |place=Mumbai |access-date=20 February 2015 |series=IndiaHCI Conference}}</ref> Static pages instead of [[dynamic HTML]];<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://computer.howstuffworks.com/web-10.htm|title=Is There a Web 1.0?|date=January 28, 2008|website=HowStuffWorks}}</ref> content served from [[filesystem]]s instead of [[relational database]]s; pages built using [[Server Side Includes]] or [[Common Gateway Interface|CGI]] instead of a [[web application]] written in a [[dynamic programming language]]; [[HTML 3.2]]-era structures such as [[Framing (World Wide Web)|frames]] and tables to create page layouts; online [[guestbook]]s; overuse of [[GIF]] buttons and similar small graphics promoting particular items;<ref>[http://www.complexify.com/buttons/ "Web 1.0 Revisited – Too many stupid buttons"]. Complexify.com. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060216081719/http://www.complexify.com/buttons/ |date=February 16, 2006 }}</ref> and HTML forms sent via [[email]]. (Support for [[server side scripting]] was rare on [[shared server]]s so the usual feedback mechanism was via email, using [[mailto|mailto forms]] and their [[email client|email program]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.catb.org/esr/writings/taoup/html/ch13s04.html|title=The Right Size of Software|website=www.catb.org}}</ref>

During the period 1997 to 2001, the first [[speculative investment]] [[investment bubble|bubble]] related to the Internet took place, in which [[dot-com company|"dot-com" companies]] (referring to the "[[.com]]" [[top level domain]] used by businesses) were propelled to exceedingly high valuations as investors rapidly stoked [[stock value]]s, followed by a [[market crash]]; the first [[dot-com bubble]]. However this only temporarily slowed enthusiasm and growth, which quickly recovered and continued to grow.

The [[history of the World Wide Web]] up to around 2004 was retrospectively named and described by some as "Web 1.0".<ref>{{Citation|last1=Jurgenson|first1=Nathan|title=The Internet, Web 2.0, and Beyond|date=2012-02-02|work=The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Sociology|pages=626–648|editor-last=Ritzer|editor-first=George|publisher=John Wiley & Sons, Ltd|doi=10.1002/9781444347388.ch33|isbn=978-1-4443-4738-8|last2=Ritzer|first2=George}}</ref>