Isn’t the internet and web the same thing?
No, they’re actually two completely different things although the words are often used interchangeably – even from developers and tech professionals. So what’s the difference? I’m glad you asked, let’s clarify so we can look smart the next time someone uses the wrong one 😉
| Internet | Web | |
|---|---|---|
| Invented | ~1970s | ~1990 |
| Inventors | Many, but largely credited to Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn who created the ‘Internet Protocol’ | Sir Tim Berners-Lee |
| In a word | Network | Platform |
| Name origin | Described as a ‘network of networks’, the technical term being an INTERconnected NETwork and therefore internet for short | Web, short for ‘World Wide Web’, the name chosen by Berners-Lee (he also considered ‘The Information Mine’) |
| Summary | The Internet is the network that allows data to be sent from one computer to another. Beyond the web platform it also enables things like email, instant messaging, and FTP to work | The web is the platform accessed through a web browser that websites and web applications are built on. It uses 3 main additional technologies created by Berners-Lee, which are HTML (markup), URI (‘address’) and HTTP (retrieval protocol) |
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