By Hannah, Bethany and Amanda

It all started in America. In the sixties, the US Government were very worried about being blown to smithereens by nuclear attack from the Russians. In those days there were only a few, very big, computers (they used to fill whole rooms), and a well-placed strike could wipe out the whole US military strategy computer system. They decided to build a `decentralized' computer system - several slightly smaller computers all connected together, so that if any one machine was trashed, the others would still be ok and the system as a whole would still function. More and more computers were connected to this initial network (called ARPANET) and things grew. Initially, only the military had access, but later anyone was allowed to connect on at any point. Other networks were developing at the same time in other countries and when these joined on, the size of what was by then known as the Internet shot up. The bigger the Internet gets, the faster it grows. In 1969 there were four computers connected. Twenty years later, in 1989, there were 160,000. Last July there were 6.5 million and in the last six months this figure has increased to 9.5 million. At this rate, every man, woman and child in the world will have their own personal connection in about 10 years time!

The internet has become more and more popular over the years because now you can find almost anything you need from searching on it. You can do online banking, shopping, find research for work that needs doing, almost anything is possible. The internet has more information on than anything else around and that is why it is popular. For example shopping online has the benefits that you wouldn’t need to go to the shop which makes it quicker and easier for the customer and they wouldn’t have to worry about payment because it is safe and easy to do. Being able to find and buy almost anything you need from the internet means that you never have to leave your home, which has the best advantage for people with disabilities or the elderly.

Setting up a home network will go much more smoothly if you prepare a few things beforehand, no matter which option you choose. Although all networking kits come from adaptors and the other components you need, such as a phone line cables or USB cables, you’ll still want a few other little things worked out before you plug anything in: -Visit the home networking company's Web site and make sure you have the most current drivers for your operating systems. You might have Windows Me on your PCs at home, for instance, and you may not get the right drivers for Me on the CD bundled with the networking kit. -Have your Windows installation CDs handy for each PC to be networked; you may need to install Windows' own network drivers while setting up your home network. -Choose a name for your network (also referred to as a workgroup). Something descriptive is usually best, such as your family name or the name of your small business. Wireless networks will also need another name (a network identification code or SSID, which stands for Service Set Identifier). It doesn't matter if the workgroup name and SSID are the same.

Konrad Zuse is popularly recognized in Germany as the "father of computer" and his ZI, a programmable automation system build between 1936 and 1938, has been called the first computer in the world. Konrad Zuse realized that he could construct a system capable of doing sequences of mathematic operations, like those needed to construct mathematical tables. He had no formal training in electronics and was not familiar with basic technological ideas, which allowed him to solve problems he came across, with new, creative and original solutions. Herman Hollerith was the first American to help in the invention of the computer in He invented the Tabulating Machine which was used by the U.S. Government. His company was called the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company. Later the company changed its name to International Business Machines, we know the today as IBM, one of the worlds largest computer companies. The ENIAC (the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) was built at the Moore School of Electrical Engineering of the University of Pennsylvania in , and is said to be the first large scale general purpose electronic computer in the world. In the 's one single computer filled an entire room and weighed about 30 tons. In the 50's and 60's the computers were smaller and faster, but still too big and expensive for home use. In the 1970's smaller computers were designed for smaller businesses and the microprocessors were introduced. They were now small enough for use in homes and schools. We still use computers with microprocessors and they keep getting smaller and smaller in size and price. What will computers be like in the future? They only thing we can be sure of is that they will be smaller, faster, more affordable, and will be able to process and store more and more information. What will they look like? We will have to wait to see what the future holds.