Human Tech Tree

Information

Communication & Networks

38 points from the earliest roots to the research frontier: 29 researched, 3 current research, 3 unsolved and 3 that become possible once they are solved. State of knowledge: October 2026.

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Industrial Age1700 – 1900

  • Optical Telegraph (Chappe)1792ResearchedClaude Chappe's semaphore towers (1792) relay coded signals by telescope from hilltop to hilltop: the first national message network.
  • Electric Telegraph1844ResearchedFrom 1844 Morse’s telegraph sends messages over long lines in seconds: for the first time information is faster than a messenger.
  • Transatlantic telegraph cable1866ResearchedAfter a failed 1858 try, the steamship Great Eastern laid a lasting Atlantic cable in 1866: news crossed the ocean in minutes.
  • Telephone1876ResearchedBell’s telephone carries the human voice as an electric current: telephone networks eventually connect the world.
  • Radio (Wireless Telegraphy)1895ResearchedHertz proves electromagnetic waves, and Marconi turns them into message transmission without wires, even across the Atlantic.

Machine Age1900 – 1945

  • Enigma & Rotor Ciphers1918ResearchedScherbius's rotor machine (patent 1918) becomes the German Enigma; Polish and British codebreakers read it, shaping World War II.
  • Broadcasting & Television1920ResearchedRadio and television send one source to millions of receivers: for the first time shared news, culture and advertising for the masses.

Atomic & Space Age1945 – 1990

  • Information Theory1948ResearchedClaude Shannon defines information as a measurable quantity (the bit) and shows how to send it without error over noisy lines.
  • Error-Correcting Codes1950ResearchedHamming (1950) and Reed-Solomon (1960) codes add clever redundancy so errors in data can be found and fixed automatically.
  • Communications Satellites1962ResearchedTelstar (1962) and geostationary satellites from 1964 carry telephone and television around the globe without cables.
  • Packet Switching1965ResearchedBaran (US) and Davies (UK) split messages into small packets that find their own way through a network, unlike a phone call that holds a line.
  • The Internet1969ResearchedARPANET links the first computers in 1969; with TCP/IP (1983) it grows into the worldwide network of networks.
  • Optical Fiber1970ResearchedLight in thin glass threads carries data with enormous capacity: optical fiber is the backbone of the internet.
  • ALOHAnet1971ResearchedNorman Abramson's ALOHAnet (Hawaii, 1971) is the first packet radio network: stations share one channel and simply retry after a collision.
  • E-mail1971ResearchedRay Tomlinson sends the first message between two computers on the ARPANET in 1971 and picks the @ sign for addresses.
  • Ethernet and local networks1973ResearchedRobert Metcalfe's Ethernet (1973) let all computers in a building share one cable and became the standard wired network.
  • TCP/IP1974ResearchedCerf and Kahn's 1974 protocol design lets any network connect to any other; the ARPANET switches to it on 1 January 1983.
  • Public-Key Cryptography1976ResearchedTwo keys instead of one: strangers can communicate encrypted and verify signatures without any prior exchange, the basis of HTTPS.
  • Mobile Networks (1G to 4G)1983ResearchedCellular radio networks make the telephone mobile: from the car phone through GSM (1991) to mobile broadband.
  • Fibre Submarine Cables1988ResearchedTAT-8 (1988), the first transatlantic fibre cable, carries about 40,000 phone calls on glass; almost all intercontinental data still goes this way.

Digital Age1990 – 2015

  • World Wide Web1991ResearchedTim Berners-Lee makes the internet usable for everyone with links, a browser and addresses.
  • SSL/TLS secure connections1995ResearchedNetscape's SSL (1995), later TLS, encrypts web connections so card numbers and passwords can cross the open internet.
  • Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11)1997ResearchedThe first IEEE 802.11 standard (1997) made Ethernet wireless; the 'Wi-Fi' brand of 1999 put it in every laptop, router and phone.
  • Web search and PageRank1998ResearchedPage and Brin's PageRank (1998) ranked web pages by who links to them, making the exploding web searchable.
  • Cloud Computing2006ResearchedAmazon's S3 and EC2 (2006) rent storage and computing by the hour from huge shared data centres.
  • Smartphone2007ResearchedThe iPhone (2007) combines phone, computer, camera and internet access in one touchscreen device that everyone carries.
  • Bitcoin & Blockchain2008ResearchedSatoshi Nakamoto's 2008 paper describes a digital currency kept honest by a public ledger of linked blocks that no single party controls.

Present2015 – Oct 2026

  • Encrypted Web (Let's Encrypt)2015ResearchedFree, automated certificates from Let's Encrypt (first issued September 2015) pushed encrypted HTTPS from a minority of web traffic to about 80%…
  • Quantum Key Distribution2016ResearchedEavesdropping-proof key exchange using quantum states: shown by satellite over more than a thousand kilometers in 2016/17.
  • 5G Rollout & Road to 6G2019Current researchOver 3 billion 5G subscriptions in 2026; the first 6G specification is due in early 2029, with networks from around 2030.
  • Satellite Internet (Starlink)2019Current researchThousands of satellites in low orbit deliver broadband anywhere on Earth; the first smartphones talk directly to satellites.
  • Post-Quantum Cryptography2024Current researchNew encryption that even quantum computers cannot break: NIST standards since 2024, migration underway from 2025/26.

Research Frontier · Todayunsolved as of Oct 2026

  • Digital Identity & TrustopenUnsolvedProving online who you are and what is genuine, despite fraud, deepfakes and the need for privacy.
  • Quantum InternetopenUnsolvedA network that distributes quantum states over long distances and links quantum computers: quantum repeaters are still missing.
  • Robust CybersecurityopenUnsolvedSoftware and networks that withstand attacks even though flaws are everywhere, while AI speeds up both attack and defense.

If Solvedbecomes possible

  • Provable Digital Trust2030s?If solvedOnline one can reliably check who is acting and whether content is genuine, without everyone being surveilled.
  • Q-Day: RSA and ECC Fall2030s?If solvedThe day a quantum computer can practically break today’s encryption (RSA, elliptic curves).
  • Global Quantum Internet2040s?If solvedA worldwide network of quantum repeaters linking quantum computers, sensors and eavesdropping-proof communication.