Yes there were many thing leading up to the Internet. The invention of 
the transistor for example. The Internet however brings minds together 
from all over the world and allows for mental networking on a whole new 
scale. Human evolution is not about gene mutations anymore. It's about 
information and technology evolution. The Internet allows information to 
be stored and distributed like never before.

On 3/6/2011 10:41 AM, Jorge Amodio wrote:
>> (That being said, i can see that some other "inventions" might be very
>> deserving also)
> I'd give you just one, without vaccines many of us would be 6 feet
> under, there are many "inventions", not all of them that great like
> the atomic bomb ...
>
> As you said the printing press has been a great achievement to
> increase the efficiency to distribute the written word, but perhaps
> more important has been the invention of the written word.
>
> The Internet today is a conglomerate of many things that you can call
> "inventions" or "achievements in technology", Internet without HTML
> and the DNS would not be the same, etc. It would be hard to imagine a
> high performance router made out of vacuum tubes.
>
> Without the invention of packet switching there would be no Internet
> and you would probably be complaining to the PTT for the price of the
> kilo-octet and dealing with many different interpretations and
> implementations (being there, done that) of ITU-T formerly CCITT X.abc
> recommendations.
>
> IMHO the best and more notorious side effect of the Internet is that
> since its conception we learned to work in a cooperative manner across
> borders, to "freely" share information and experiences, regardless of
> nationality, color, religion, sexual orientation, educational
> background, etc. What makes Internet unique and so relevant is the
> "spirit" of the people which (excuse my french) with all this shit
> about governance, IP&  commercial interests, yada, yada, we are
> loosing.
>
> We have an old proverb in spanish that says "La culpa no es del
> chancho, sino del que le da de comer", in english would be something
> like "Don't blame the pig, blame those who feed it."
>
> My .02
> Jorge
>