INTERNET HISTORY NEWSLETTER - OCTOBER 2004
Welcome to the Internet History Newsletter, brought to you by the
www.nethistory.info website. In this
edition:
=> FROM OUR MAIL - TCP/IP origins
=> FEATURE ARTICLE When did the Internet begin - more theories and feedback
=> Wanted section
=> Special offers
=> Subscribe/unsubscribe details
===============================================================
Tell a friend about the Internet History newsletter!
The simple way to subscribe is to
mailto:subscribe@nethistory.info.
No need to add a name or a header or anything - we will get the message!
==============================================================
FROM OUR MAIL
This month we have had some urgent requests for help with school homework
assignments. Some of the questions posed have included
* where was the first Internet site?
* where was the first world wide web site (was it Mozilla?)
* who used the Internet first - the CIA or universities?
Makes you wonder how we ever did homework in the days before the Internet!
Also some interesting discussions on Archives, and the need to preserve bits of
our history which are sitting in individual collections here and there. I may
have more to say on that next month, as there is a growing recognition of the
need for some more work in this area.
TCP/IP ORIGINS
Meanwhile, one of the most interesting bits of feedback came from Internet
pioneer Bob Frankston, who wrote about the history of the "end-to-end" concept
in Internet architecture.
For the technical enthusiasts, the following link leads you to a fascinating
email exchange with Internet pioneers Vint Cerf, Bob Frankston and David Reed,
reprinted for Internet History Newsletter subscribers with their permission.
This page discusses the conceptual design of the TCP/IP protocols, and some of
the discussions involved. It's a bit hard to follow unless you understand
Internet architecture discussions, but for those who do it's a revealing
history.
http://www.nethistory.info/Archives/tcpiptalk.html
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
If you like what we are doing, add a link to your site!
www.nethistory.info - the premier site
for Internet history resources.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
FEATURE ARTICLE - MORE ON WHEN DID THE INTERNET BEGIN?
In the September 2004 Newsletter (if you've lost it, you can access a copy from
http://www.nethistory.info/Participation/join.html) we talked about the
different theories of Internet beginnings, and that there is no common agreement
on when the Internet began or how to define exactly what it is that can be
called the beginnings of the Internet.
As a follow-up to this, Mitra Ardron, one of the co-Founders of early networking
group the Association for Progressive Communications (www.apc.org)
proposed a different direction altogether.
"I would suggest that defining the history of the internet by the particular
protocol that won is only one way to do it. Ask yourself - would it still be the
internet if we were using ATM, or X.25 or any of the other competing protocols?
Of course it would.
An alternative view of history tracks the history of the Internet as the
ubiquitous use of electronic "online" communications. The history belongs at the
applications level - with the development of email, with the progression from
proprietary databases to Gopher and Wais to the World Wide Web, and from
newsgroups and conferencing through mailing lists and blogs.
One very significant trend which tends to get ignored is the various online
systems, the early Source, Compuserve, Dialcom, and of course APC networks,
Fidonet etc. If anything, the history of the use of the Internet, at least from
the point of view of the public, owes more to that stream of development than
the more common version.
From that perspective, the switch from X.25 to TCP/IP around say '92 for the
transport was just something that was done when cost/benefit of TCP/IP dropped
below that of X.25."
Thanks Mitra! That view of history largely accords with what we have done with
the Internet Tapes - tracing the various streams which came together to create
the phenomena of the Internet.
Sections 7 and 8 of the Audio CD and Ebook (details of the special offer for
newsletter subscribers can be obtained from
http://www.nethistory.info/specialoffer.html) cover the development of APC,
Fidonet, and the other early networks. So of course we agree with that direction
and the importance of other streams of development which are usually not
recorded.
This gets interesting too as we trace the history of the Internet in various
countries.
Usually there are parallel streams in a country of social networks, which often
began with the Fidonet/APC networks, academic and research networks, and
business networks. As in the beginning these were all using different
technologies, it's not too surprising that they didn't know of each others
existence in a lot of cases.
It's also not too surprising that the academic networks, on the whole,
documented their history a lot better. So, for instance, the excellent Thailand
history (see International histories page) follows the academic network origins.
But we are aware of a parallel development in social networking started by CCAN
Thailand at the same time using Fidonet, and early links from UN agencies in
Bangkok via Thaipak and X25 networks to APC networks, all in the pre- 1990
period. So in most cases it's going to be very difficult to get more complete
histories. We are happy to post multiple stories from various countries if you
have information which complements that which we are already providing!
The South African history is interesting, in that it begins with Fidonet
connections to academic institutions. This was a pattern we were to see in
various countries.
How these separate systems all came together, and what drove them, is a
fascinating story. Here we start to learn of the unique roles played by people
like Tim Pozar, Scott Weikart and others in providing linking technology to
bring together the PC networks and the academic/research networks. It's also
where we start to learn about pioneers who took the Internet to various parts of
the world. It's a quite fascinating story of how the various network threads
came together to create the critical mass for the Internet, and we tell in in
the Audio CD and Ebook. So much of this was previously unrecorded!
WANTED SECTION
ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ
More national histories wanted! We have them underway for a few countries, but
we need more!
Educational authorities wanted! We would like to see the History of the Internet
Audio CD and Ebook available for schools, colleges and universities. If you know
anyone we should contact about this, email us (mailto:info@nethistory.info)
================================================================
SPECIAL OFFERS
ŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻŻ
At $18.95 for the Audio CD and the Ebook, including postage and handling to
anywhere in the world, we have gone as far as we can to make this comprehensive
History of the Internet readily available. Buy now from
http://www.nethistory.info/specialoffer.html
to access this price.
================================================================
Tell a friend about the Internet History newsletter!
The simple way to subscribe is to
mailto:subscribe@nethistory.info
================================================================