Though the Internet we are familiar with today only came around during the 1990s, scientists and inventors all over the world have been theorizing about a system of digital, instantaneous connected service. Today, we predict a future of 20 billion IoT devices worldwide accounting for 2.6 times more than the number right now.
The theoretical ideas expressed by minds like Paul Otlet and Nikola Tesla made it possible for real-life applications be put to the test. From the 1970s to the 1980s, localized versions of wireless connections were utilized, like ALOHAnet and AT&T’s WaveLAN. By the 1990s, rapid development kicked in when the first large-scale wireless network was installed at Carnegie Mellon, and in 1999 the term Wi-Fi itself was trademarked by the Wi-Fi Alliance trade association.
There’s nothing new under the sun – even the eight billion WiFi-connected devices on Earth have a long story to tell. See this infographic for more on the history and future of WiFi.
infographic by: www.netgear.com
