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Comments: 213 +- Technology: Happy Birthday, Internet! on Wednesday September 02, @06:59PM
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samzenpus
on Wednesday September 02, @06:59PM
from the not-a-kid-anymore dept.
from the not-a-kid-anymore dept.
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NobodyExpects writes "I'd like to wish a happy birthday to the Internet! Today marks its 40th birthday!
In fall 1969, computers sending data between two California universities set the stage for the Internet, which became a household word in the 1990s. On September 2nd 1969, in a lab at the University of California, Los Angeles, two computers passed test data through a 15-foot gray cable. Stanford Research Institute joined the fledgling ARPANET network a month later; UC Santa Barbara and the University of Utah joined by years end, and the internet was born."
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News: The Internet Turns 40, For a Second Time 152 comments
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Looking forward... (Score:5, Interesting)
Before everyone starts posting stories about how they grew up on their Apple II using a 300 baud modem, let's have a forward looking discussion.
The Internet as we define it today was born 40 years ago when two big computers were hooked up with a cable and exchanged data. Let me ask: what are the milestones that will matter 10, 30 years from now? Some guesses (pick your favorites):
- wires, what wires?: The Internet goes wireless, with the invention of Wifi (circa 1991 - yes, really that old)
- device, what device?: The Internet goes ubiquitous, we don't even have to carry those bulky iPhones around (circa ???)
- telepresence: I see you, you see me, in HD, anytime, wherever you and I are. Maybe we can even shake hands. Definitely coming in the next decade.
- oracle: all knowledge, all questions, answered all the time (that might change the way we think of our education system!)
Who said innovation is slowing down? We are still in the stone age of the Internet.
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
Apple 2?
Gosh, that was out of the question back then - too expensive.
Re:Looking forward... (Score:5, Interesting)
$1000 for an Apple II isn't that bad. Certainly cheaper than the first Macintosh at around $4000. Hmmm. I guess that's why most home hobbyists owned the cheaper $400 Ataris and $200 Commodores.
Milestones:
Killer App (circa 1993) - The hypertext web browser. Prior to its invention few people had a reason to get internet. They were satisfied to just keep using local bulletin boards, but once they saw the Mosaic web browser running on their friend's or their college's IBM or Mac or Amiga, they immediately wanted it.
Carterphone decision (circa 1981) - It eliminated the monopoly AT&T had on the modem and brought competition. People always ask why is competition is needed? This is a perfect example. From the 1950s to the 1980s the only speeds available were 110 bit/s and 300 bit/s. The monopoly caused stagnation. After the breakup of AT&T multiple companies began a "speedwar" that rapidly moved speeds from 300 to 56000 in only ten years time. If AT&T still had a monopoly over 300 baud modems, the 90s's web explosion would have been impossible (too slow).
Usenet/Fidonet (circa 1982) - They weren't originally part of the internet, but they helped set the standards. Most of the emoticons ;-) and abbreviations (ROTF-LOL) we use today originated on these early text-only forums. And they allowed people to communicate not just locally, but all around the world like today's web. And it was free (no long-distance charges).
DSL/cable internet (circa 2000) - Allowed people to escape the 56k barrier and download videos, as well as streaming TV shows.
That's about all I can come-up with. Most of the advancement has been gradual.
Parent
Re:Looking forward... (Score:4, Insightful)
You're the only person other than me who I've seen that realized that without the Carterphone decision, there would be no internet as we know it.
There were even books published in the 80s about how the AT&T breakup was a disaster for technology. Bet that author feels stupid now.
Parent
Re:Looking forward... (Score:5, Insightful)
Are you kidding? The author's probably convinced he's still right, and weeps for the wonders we'd have had if only the government had left Ma Bell alone.
Maybe not, but you'd think that from the political atmosphere in this country.
Parent
Re:Looking forward... (Score:4, Informative)
Usenet/Fidonet (circa 1982 ....And it was free (no long-distance charges).
That may have been the case in the USA and some other countries, but certainly in the UK, we enjoyed the benefits of 300 baud comms together with the accompanying phone bills- no free local calls then.
Parent
Re:Looking forward... (Score:5, Insightful)
all knowledge, all questions, answered all the time (that might change the way we think of our education system!)
Yes, by providing even less incentive for people to actually study anything ;) To quote a friend of mine: A masters in Google and a doctorate in speed reading.
Parent
Re:Looking forward... (Score:5, Interesting)
This is not a bad thing -- IF you can figure out which information is worthless and which is the the right answer.
That should be the motivation to learn enough to learn enough so that you can decide which Google results pass "the sniff test".
Of course the topic of your query has a lot to do with how well you will be able to tell if the results are the real deal.
I thought I was done, but that last sentence made me realize the "quick answer" future could either hasten or slow an "Idiocracy" future...
Parent
Re:Looking forward... (Score:5, Insightful)
A masters in Google and a doctorate in speed reading.
This has actually been somewhat true (if you replace Google with Searching, that is) for a lot longer than the internet has existed. One of the most important things to learn at medical university/college, for example, is how to look stuff up. Ever wonder why doctors have giant libraries sitting around in their offices? That's all knowledge they gained in university, then promptly forgot, like any sane person would. They learned the reference system available to them at the time, and know how to use it - where one person gets hopelessly lost, they can find something useful. My mother collected a ridiculous number of books over the years for her practice - and she says her laptop and the internet almost invalidated nearly half of them.
Some basic training will always be required to understand certain things without a reference, though. Very simple example: nowhere in the wikipedia article on "clouds" does it say they're too diffuse to stand on. :) Don't go skydiving with intent to land on one, folks!
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Some basic training will always be required to understand certain things without a reference, though. Very simple example: nowhere in the wikipedia article on "clouds" does it say they're too diffuse to stand on. :) Don't go skydiving with intent to land on one, folks!
This reminds me of an article long ago (20 years?) about Cyc [wikipedia.org], the knowledge system that once should be able to read and understood anything it comes across and autonomously increase its own knowledge base.
The guy from Cyc said, one of the most basic problems was to add rules which are deeply ingrained in our brains while seldom being explicitely stated like "any human has a limited, continous life span".
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Looking forward... Al Gore (Score:5, Insightful)
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
If anyone was in need of a new .sig that has to be it ! ;-)
Re:Looking forward... (Score:5, Insightful)
Let me ask: what are the milestones that will matter 10, 30 years from now?
Amazingly, you missed the invention of DNS and the World Wide Web, arguably the two most popularizing developments.
Parent
wireless Internet is much older (Score:5, Informative)
Parent
Re:wireless Internet is much older (Score:5, Interesting)
Indeed. I cut my Internet teeth watching 1200 baud data flow in KA9Q NOS via packet radio. It was so slow and synchronous that you could really examine each packet as you were doing stuff, taught me way more about networking than any book.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
You forgot
Nuclear disarmament: No one can afford internet downtime from emp anymore.
I know thats why it was originally invented, but I don't think the modern internet is emp resistant.
Re:Looking forward... (Score:4, Informative)
I know thats why it was originally invented, but I don't think the modern internet is emp resistant.
That's an urban legend [isoc.org].
Parent
Re:Looking forward... (Score:5, Insightful)
Before everyone starts posting stories about how they grew up on their Apple II using a 300 baud modem,
Too late. Did you watch the movie? There's some heavy handed "Get off my lawn"-ness going on in the article itself. To quote:
a lot of the youngsters nowadays have no real idea how primitive things were a few years ago.
"This is the first one I could say was my computer [...] You would have to plug it in because there was no battery, and you would work forever to get very little out of it..."
today's children have no concept of a life before computers.
Regardless, I say Happy Birthday, Internet! I can't wait to find out what sorts of wonders you will bring to my kids in another decade or so.
Parent
Re:Looking forward... (Score:5, Funny)
"There's some heavy handed "Get off my lawn"-ness going on in the article itself."
Quit yer whinin', you young punk. When we moved out of the caves, we had to WALK to the next village to get our packets!! Now get back out into the street where you belong, you're crushing my grass.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
> a lot of the youngsters nowadays have no real idea how primitive things were a few years ago.
I told my kid the Internet turned 40.
"The internet is only 40 years old??!?!?!"
"Well, yes, there weren't even personal computers 40 years ago"
"There were no computers 40 years ago?!?!?!?!?!!"
yeesh
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
Let me ask: what are the milestones that will matter 10, 30 years from now?
Re:Looking forward... (Score:5, Insightful)
Adoption of a true IP infrastructure across the board... no more IP over (insert your favorite old tech, like ATM or GSM), and all the extra overhead it causes.
Uh... ? What is a true IP infrastructure in your eyes ? Because I don't see anything in IP that permits physical interconnexion like ATM or GSM does. IP will always be over (insert some link layer and physical media here). Otherwise, IP wouldn't work.
Parent
15 foot? (Score:4, Funny)
Presents (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:Presents (Score:4, Funny)
I hear the internet wants a pony.
The Internet is 40, not 4. It's not a pony it wants, but a Mustang [wikipedia.org].
It also wants you off its lawn.
Parent
happy b-day (Score:5, Funny)
Re:happy b-day (Score:5, Interesting)
>>>thx for the porn
I still remember my first downloaded porn "video". It was about 64 kilobytes, took about 10 minutes to download, was a grainy 320x200, and only lasted 1/2 a second. It looped repeating the same "action" over-and-over which I'm sure you can guess what that was.
I then upgraded to a 4000-color 7 megahertz Amiga so I could get something more realistic-looking. ;-) Anyway here's that original movie that I downloaded ~25 years ago (porn) http://girls.c64.org/a_porno_movie_02.gif [c64.org] . And if for some strange reason you want to download it, you can find it here (porn) http://girls.c64.org/a__show.php?squery=&sfield=&cat=ani&style=&offset=41 [c64.org]
Parent
Re:happy b-day (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
They got started young back in the day.... (Score:5, Funny)
Apparently Al Gore had his first child at the age of 21 ;)
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
Didn't take long for a wingnut to bring up Gore (Yes I saw your ;) )
Gore never claimed that he "invented" the Internet, which implies that he engineered the technology. The invention occurred in the seventies and allowed scientists in the Defense Department to communicate with each other. In a March 1999 interview with Wolf Blitzer, Gore said, "During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet."
The sentence, means that as a congressman Gore promoted the system w
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Didn't take long for a wingnut to bring up Gore (Yes I saw your ;) )
I like how you acknowledge the fact that I was being sarcastic but call me a wingnut anyway.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
>>>Gore said, "...I took the initiative in creating the Internet."
That's quite a trick considering the net was created in 1969, and Al Gore did not join the Congress until 1977. Maybe he borrowed an Omni from Time Voyager Phineas Bogg and zipped back to the 1960s.
Re:They got started young back in the day.... (Score:4, Informative)
That's quite a trick considering the net was created in 1969, and Al Gore did not join the Congress until 1977. Maybe he borrowed an Omni from Time Voyager Phineas Bogg and zipped back to the 1960s.
So the Internet, where millions of people and businesses could communicate online, sprung fourth, wholly formed in 1969? Or maybe it was a bit of a process, starting with two computers and ending up with millions? A process that...might have been given a shove (and government funding)...by a politician from Tennessee?
You don't have to take my word for it. Vint Cerf [politechbot.com], inventor of TCP/IP:
Too bad you suckers of Satan's cock were so busy trashing Gore in 2000 that you completely ignored the fact that Bush took credit [fair.org] for patients rights legislation that he fucking vetoed as governor of Texas.
Parent
When did ARPAnet become "internet" (Score:5, Interesting)
When did that transition happen? Late 70s?
I've been using the net since 1987 (shortly after Star Trek TNG premiered). It's been a fun ride going from 1.2k bit/s and pure text. There were a few graphical bulletin board services added in 1989, but they were little more than vector-based graphics and took several minutes to load! None of them had music or video like we have today.
Re: (Score:2)
>>>little more than vector-based graphics
Ooops I forgot. There was the Q-Link graphical service, which eventually evolved into America Online. Its drawback was that it only worked with Commodore's CASCII set, not IBMs or Apples or Ataris. - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_Link [wikipedia.org]
Re:When did ARPAnet become "internet" (Score:5, Insightful)
Parent
Re:When did ARPAnet become "internet" (Score:5, Informative)
When did that transition happen? Late 70s?
Winter 1982/1983. On 7 December 1982, 130 out of 315 hosts speak TCP/IP (RFC 832). On 22 February 1983, that's 230 out of 320 (RFC 846).
Parent
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
I remember the newsgroups were the main thing for me, I wasted alot of time on them. Now I waste a lot of time on /.
And one hour later... (Score:4, Funny)
the first spam e-mail was sent.
Re:And one hour later... (Score:5, Informative)
No, it was actually about 8 1/2 years later, if you don't count the birthday announcements, etc. May 1, 1978 to be exact.
http://www.templetons.com/brad/spamreact.html [templetons.com]
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
the first spam e-mail was sent.
No, that was about nine years later [templetons.com].
Seriously, though, from what I've read on the subject, they were pretty happy to just get packets flowing. There's a quite readable section on the connection of the first two IMPs in M. Mitchell Waldrop's book on J.C.R.Licklider, but there are probably entire books on the subject out there somewhere.
Now it is a small box... (Score:2, Funny)
watched over by the Elders of the Internet [youtube.com]
Doubts about the date (Score:4, Informative)
Probably the best thing ever happened to mankind (Score:3, Insightful)
because it is the culmination of all the good things that happened to mankind.
now it brings people together, regardless of location, time, situation, condition, race, gender, nation, age, occupation, social status, from all over the world. even if their governments or rulers do not want that.
children around the world growing up together playing same games, growing up in the flourishing new internet culture. when they are grown up, all of them will have much more in common than previous generations. this will remove many barriers and estrangements in between the nations.
internet is very important.
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Imminent death of Internet predicted. (Score:3, Interesting)
With the exhaustion of IPv4 addresses coming in a couple of years, combined with extremly low IPv6 deployment, the Internet expansion will grind to a halt very soon.
Imminent death of Internet predicted. Film at eleven.
= = = =
And for those of you who weren't on it back then: This was a running gag on netnews virtually from its initial deployment. Seems like every week there was a new prediction of some mechanism by which the rapidly-doubling internet would break - yet it still kept going.
As someone who wo