The internet was in large part made possible because of government funded multi-year research during the cold war. It was largely ruined through commercialization and privatization, on all its layers.
The demand for Internet was an economic event where the efficiencies it afforded - quick, low cost communication, scale etc - made it attractive.
Other countries had invented the Internet (France, I believe) but it went nowhere.
Other comms technologies have been invented - Iridium satellites e.g. - but they died. Even distributed Internet based systems like Ipfs have the technology but not the adoption.
Technology is a part of the story but the success and spread of the US backed Internet is an economic story.
That the Internet has balkanised into walled gardens is downstream problem of successful products getting shittified until someone steps in a creates an alternative.
Other countries had invented the Internet (France, I believe) but it went nowhere.
Other comms technologies have been invented - Iridium satellites e.g. - but they died. Even distributed Internet based systems like Ipfs have the technology but not the adoption.
Technology is a part of the story but the success and spread of the US backed Internet is an economic story.
That the Internet has balkanised into walled gardens is downstream problem of successful products getting shittified until someone steps in a creates an alternative.