more on the birth of the internet -- J C R Licklider

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Arthur Evans Jr <EvansSL21 () earthlink net>
Date: August 20, 2008 9:31:36 PM EDT
To: dave () farber net
Subject: Re: [IP] more on the birth of the internet

For IP if you like.

I was glad to see J C R Licklider's name mentioned on this thread.

In the early 60s I was a graduate student in what was then Carnegie  
Tech, now Carnegie Mellon. Along with many other institutions we had  
an ARPA contract to do various kinds of research. Periodically (I  
think it was yearly) ARPA gathered all of the Principle Investigators  
to share ideas. One year Alan Perlis, my advisor and our PI, was  
unable to attend and sent me. And it was there that I heard Lick  
extolling his vision of the Intergalactic Computer Network.

Now, graduate students, particularly ones just starting, know that  
they know much more about things than do their seniors, and it seemed  
clear to me at the time that Lick's ideas were a bunch of hooey. Well,  
sigh...

He was right, of course, and I was wrong, and I'm glad to admit it  
here. Lick had the vision, at a time when the state of research didn't  
provide much justification for it. We all owe a lot to that vision.

Art Evans




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