The concept of "downloading" as the process of receiving data from a remote system developed alongside the growth of computer networks and the internet, so there is no single inventor attributed specifically to downloading itself. However, the technology and culture that enabled downloading music and other files significantly advanced with the invention of the MP3 compression algorithm by Karlheinz Brandenburg in the late 1980s and early 1990s, which made downloading audio files feasible and popular. The peer-to-peer file sharing service Napster, launched in 1999 by Shawn Fanning and Sean Parker, played a major role in popularizing downloading music over the internet. Some informal claims, like a man named Peter Lenahan, have surfaced recently in popular media stating they helped invent the download feature, but such claims are not verified or widely recognized by experts or historical accounts.
In summary:
- Downloading as a technical process evolved with computer networking.
- MP3 compression invention by Karlheinz Brandenburg enabled efficient audio downloading.
- Napster (Shawn Fanning and Sean Parker) popularized downloading music files.
- No single inventor credited with "inventing downloading" as a basic data transfer operation.
