Discover the fascinating story of the early days of the Internet and the parallel developments in the alternate world of computer bulletin board systems. In On the Way to the Web: The Secret History of the Internet and Its Founders, an absorbing chronicle of the inventive, individualistic, and often cantankerous individuals who set the Internet free, Michael A. Banks describes how the online population created a new culture and turned a new frontier into their vision of the future.

This is not the story of DARPAnet, CERN, Tim Berners-Lee, Vinton Cerf, and other familiar names whose tales have been recorded elsewhere. Nor is it preoccupied with serial ports, phase-shift keying, or similar techno-topics. This is a story of the building of the Internet: the characters and the events that made it what it became, and the successes, mistakes, lucky guesses, and near misses that changed the culture.

Both a business book and a chronicle of popular culture set in the online era preceding the Web, this title is packed with facts and trivia, with a rich vein of human interest that will enthrall and educate readers from all backgrounds with an interest in the Internet. Michael Bank's narrative is interspersed with a remarkable collection of vignettes--personal stories from numerous central sources--to tell the story of the evolution of the public Internet from a distinctly human perspective. The inclusion of mainstream historical and cultural events will take every reader back in time to experience the fascinating and broadly unreported early days of the Internet. What you'll learn

You will learn a lot about the times and the environment that surrounded the events that led up to theWorld Wide Web.

Personal stories recount events and experiences in building the early Internet, including The first instance of online censorship in 1979 How in 1980 the FBI demanded the ID of a CompuServe user who tried to sell 3,000 M16 rifles online Early con artists Online romance scams Identify theft ...and more Who is this book for?

On the Way to the Web is a book that will appeal to all readers, but one that computer enthusiasts will find especially interesting. Most readers will have played a part in the story it tells, and anyone who uses the Internet and Web on a day-to-day basis will find this book an absorbing read. Related Titles Founders at Work: Stories of Startups' Early Days Internet Babylon: Secrets, Scandals, and Shocks on the Information Superhighway Black Hat: Misfits, Criminals, and Scammers in the Internet Age

The stories of the individuals who laid the foundation for the Internet are presented by Banks (The Modern Reference), who tracks the surprising origins of the World Wide Web back through several decades. Mixing history and trivia (such as the origins of the "@" sign), the author reveals such gems as how the first wireless Internet system was actually built in 1978, and how several unlikely characters became wealthy by being in the right place at the right time. Written for anyone who has ever "logged on," this book also discusses what happened to such early attempts at the "information superhighway" as Prodigy, DELPHI, CompuServe and Playnet. Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

This work presents the story of the opening of the Internet, and parallel developments in the alternate world of computer bulletin board systems. it chronicles the inventive, individualistic, and often cantankerous individuals who have created this new culture.

On the Way to the Web: The Secret History of the Internet and Its Founders is an absorbing chronicle of the inventive, individualistic, and often cantankerous individuals who set the Internet free. Michael A. Banks describes how the online population created a new culture and turned a new frontier into their vision of the future.

This book will introduce you to the innovators who laid the foundation for the Internet and the World Wide Web, the man who invented online chat, and the people who invented the products all of us use online every day. Learn where, when, how and why the Internet came into being, and exactly what hundreds of thousands of people were doing online before the Web. See who was behind it all, and what inspired them.

You'll also find these stories of people and events on the way to the Web: CIA agents in search of military hardware for sale online. The first online privacy scandal, three decades ago. The first instance of online censorship in 1979 How in 1980 the FBI demanded the ID of a CompuServe user who tried to sell 3,000 M16 rifles online Early con artists Online romance scams Identify theft Who really created AOL. (Hint: it wasn't Steve Case.) The wireless Internet that was built in 1978. Why the @ sign is used in email addresses.

Who is this book for?

On the Way to the Web is a book that will appeal to all readers, but one that computer enthusiasts will find especially interesting. Most readers will have played a part in the story it tells, and anyone who uses the Internet and Web on a day-to-day basis will find this book an absorbing read.