yes, originally used only cables - because that’s all there was
That’s not correct. The Arpanet, the precursor to the Internet, already included the wireless AlohaNet by Dec 1972. The Arpanet didn’t become a true Internet, a network connecting 2 or more other networks, until 1977. So the Internet as we know it has always included wireless links.
It is an “interconnected network” which, yes, originally used only cables - because that’s all there was.
A car is still a car - even when you substitute the combustion engine for an electric motor.
That’s not correct. The Arpanet, the precursor to the Internet, already included the wireless AlohaNet by Dec 1972. The Arpanet didn’t become a true Internet, a network connecting 2 or more other networks, until 1977. So the Internet as we know it has always included wireless links.
Yeah, for sure. But with the actual question being asked I wasn’t going to get all historical - I thought I’d stay with an eli5 answer for simplicity.
Except, even from the start it wasn’t defined by wires.