IP: As Net Turns 30, the Sequel Is Still in Previews

[David Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/10/circuits/articles/07net.html

October 7, 1999



As Net Turns 30, the Sequel Is Still in Previews


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Internet2, a Project to Link Universities With Fast Connections, Gets 
Mixed Reviews So Far

By KATIE HAFNER


THIRTY years ago this fall, the Internet got its start as the 
Arpanet, a Government-financed computer network for universities and 
military sites. That network has gradually morphed into today's 
Internet, which 200 million people around the world use, misuse, 
cherish and curse.

About three years ago, a project called Internet2 began. It involves 
a a new high-speed data backbone connecting universities, much like 
the way they were connected in the original Arpanet. It is one of 
several attempts to steer a future course for the connected world, a 
reinvention of the Net meant to feed new technologies to the public 
eventually. But opinion is divided on whether it is the bridge to the 
21st century or an expensive dead end. Proponents of the Internet2 
project, whose users are almost exclusively at universities, say it 
is a unique sandbox in which researchers can conduct experiments in 
areas like advanced videoconference techniques, virtual reality and 
telemedicine. They say the technological innovations to emerge from 
the project will quickly filter down to the "commodity" Internet, as 
the general Internet is sometimes called. Critics, on the other hand, 
say the project is falling short of its original goals, that it has 
little technical innovation to show for three years of work and that 
much of Internet2's prodigious capacity often stands idle. Further, 
they say, the expense to universities outweighs the project's 
usefulness to faculty and students. Internet2 started with much 
fanfare in 1996 as a high-capacity private network for researchers at 
universities to use for developing and testing futuristic 
applications that require a lot of bandwidth.

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