That Silly Internet

When I read the article noted, I looked at it with the perspective of the times. The kinds of things Cliff talked about were actual concerns then. The Internet had been a 20 year experiment that just turned commercial. Many involved in the business were trying to figure out what to do with it. There were certainly a lot of different views then. Remember “Information wants to be free”. Cliff came from an environment where we were distinctly aware of the limitations of computing and communications. Most of the Internet builders dated from the 60’s and 70’s when the capabilities of the equipment and software were so limited that we learned to think that way as a matter of practicality to let us do our jobs. I believe this of Cliff because I succeeded him as chairman if a special interest group for a computer we both used. He and I had occasion to speak with each other in the 80’s and 90’s. His article is not really that silly for the times he wrote it in.

There are two examples I see that put this into perspective. I was born and raised in Detroit and steeped in its history. In the early part of the 20th century, there were lots of views on what was going to happen to the automobile and how we should use it. Few if any from that time would have seen what we have now. That didn’t stop them from saying what they thought should happen or comment on what was happening. The other example is from the development of the Internet itself. When the idea of packet switching was developed there were meetings with AT&T to describe the new network solution for communications. The old line telephone guru’s couldn’t accept it. It waited until there was a need that could be fulfilled by this new idea.

All I can get out of this is that we as humans like to draw lines in the sand and plant flags in the ground. It’s good to go back and see where they were drawn or planted and then move on based on where we are, fully aware that we will likely draw our own lines and plant our own flags.

Zach,

I don’t find his dismissive attitude disturbing. Like myself and others, we knew of technology pretty well but there were only a small number that really understood what technologies were capable of at that time. When Cliff wrote that, we knew many components IT would improve greatly but we also were keenly aware that the idea of using computing for general uses was something that had never been done before. Computers were used for balancing books and aiming telescopes. To some extent, it rested on a small number of visionaries who could see that and the next generation who were unencumbered by history and could say why not. That not disturbing. It’s just human nature.