From all appearances, Telnet is an unlikely candidate for such honors. In this case appearances are deceiving. Figure 1 illustrates the point. From this third server a Unix network browser program called Lynx is run interactively. In this one session, a Unix program from a distant computer is being run interactively on a non-Unix workstation via indirect routing over the Internet.
Life is grand.
Telnet is the genesis of cyberspace. One could run programs anywhere in the world as if they were on a local computer irrespective of any differences in the computer environments. This spatial and environmental transparency showed how it was possible to bring the world's computing resources together in a seamless whole. With navigation utilities, one could conveniently sail through cyberspace without regard to the topology of the network. With browsing, one could partake of the immense information resources wherever they resided.