[ih] History of Naming on The Internet - is it still relevant?

[Jack Haverty]

The recent recollections of Naming are fascinating, since I was only 
peripherally involved in that part of The Internet.   It made me think 
of some other aspects of Naming in the history.   I can recount my 
personal experience, and wonder if anyone else has experienced the same.

The History of Internet Naming -- from a User's Perspective

- in the early ARPANET, numeric addresses were used.  If you knew what 
IMP a computer was connected to, and which port on that IMP it was 
physically using, the address was simply <port>*64+IMPnumber.  MIT-DM 
was the machine I used, connected to port 1 on IMP 6.   So it's address 
was 1*64+6.  To establish a connection to MIT-DM from a TIP, you simply 
typed @L 70

- that user experience became unwieldy as the ARPANET grew.   The NIC 
(Network Information Center) at SRI kept a file available for public 
use, mapping names (like MIT-DM) to addresses.  All the computer systems 
on the 'net dutifully used FTP to retrieve that file.  Instead of typing 
@L 70, Users could now type @L MIT-DM.

- As the ARPANET continued to grow and The Internet emerged, DNS was 
created, automating much of the technical procedures of distributing the 
information and making changes propagate more rapidly.  Users mostly 
didn't notice since they still typed user-friendly computer names 
instead of numbers

- As the Web appeared and grew, Naming became more important to help 
Users find the site they sought.  Everyone "knew" that .com was for 
companies.   If you wanted to get to the Acme Corporation website, it 
was likely at acme.com.  People could remember names of sites they 
frequently used.  Browsers introduced schemes such as "Bookmarks" to 
organize your own lists.

- DNS was "improved" to add many more "top level domains".  It was no 
longer true that a company site would be found using a .com name.  
Countries also discovered that their own domain had monetary value.  An 
entertainment site might be at shows.tv rather than shows.com, and it 
wasn't located in Tuvalu.   It became difficult for Users to remember 
what name to use, and bookmarks became more useful and necessary to help 
Users navigate The Internet.

- It became easier to just use a Search Engine to find the site a User 
was seeking.  Typing in a company name and perhaps a location or product 
category would usually surface exactly what you were seeking, regardless 
of the name it was accessed through.

- Companies, hackers, and criminals discovered that they could siphon 
off Users from the site they wanted to access, simply by putting another 
site on The Internet with a very similar name as the real one.  Often 
just changing an "o" into a "0" would be enough to fool a human.  Or 
registering a name in another domain that a company hadn't bought to 
protect it would work.

- AI burst onto The Internet, and became a way for Users to more easily 
find exactly what they are looking for, by simply asking a question - 
"Where do I find the official site for Acme Corporation, which sells 
desert survival gear?"

---------------------------------------------------------------

So, my question is -- How has the Internet mechanisms for Naming evolved 
over the last 55 years, from the Users' perspective?   Is Naming even 
still relevant on The Internet?

Personally I've gone through all of the steps above.  Recently I've 
noticed that I'm using an AI to find things, rather than seach engines, 
and I rarely use bookmarks any more.

Your view of the History...?

Jack Haverty
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