In the same way as production methods or dominant materials have been representative for entire eras so far, important parts of present-day life can indeed be identified with the Internet. Multimedia-based communication results from digitalization, and the almost cambrian-like explosion of end-user devices and services revolutionized the organization of everyone's work and leisure. After the internationalization of telecommunication, which was organized nationally up to the 1990s, now standardization of business and private communcation and organization is under consideration. The article reviews the development of the Internet in order to gain a better view on the proceeding development by affirming the past. The analogy to problems and questions of business and information systems engineering (BISE) establishes the reference to present-day issues.

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