This is an old video that my dad just sent me of Dr. Dugan – former director of DARPA and a close family friend. It is weird seeing her on TED, but so cool to see how far DARPA’s technology has come!
I find it very interesting and devious that BMI stole many of the users from ASCAP because they started distributing their content for free, and how outrageous that was to ASCAP.
The way he described the way kids these days remix music because they love it, and how it is not about money was really insightful to me because it is so important to have that distinction. I also found it significant that he brought up the difference between piracy and remixing. There is such an important distinction between the two. Piracy being the redistribution of another person’s work for profit, and remixing being the re-creation of one or more works to create something new and unique. This technique is such an important way that young people can utilize and learn from technology these days.
In chapter 8, DARPA is finally introduced! In the early 70s, there was intense work and experimentation on computer networking. Also – there was communication satellites in space. Basically, the 70s were a very productive and innovative time in technology.
In 1973, Cerf and Kahn came up with the concept of a “gateway” (routing computer) to facilitate message sending from one network to another. They were able to connect ARPANet and two other networks (Satnet and Prnet). The military was also brought in more in chapter 8. It is really cool to me how quickly all of this came about, and how just a few men created the gigantic internet that we know today, and how they are not even really recognized for their accomplishment.
This chapter has definitely been the most interesting in Where the Wizards Stay Up Late. I think it is hilarious that they were emailing Roberts about this gentleman’s razor because he so desperately needed it back.
It also grabbed my attention when Steve Walker came into the picture because that is my dad’s name, and he works for DARPA now. It took me a minute to remember that the Steve Walker mentioned was there in the 1970s and my dad was only in elementary school – Oops. Anyways, Steve Walker – my maybe relative – came up with a way for people to message multiple people at a time. So far, they were using email fairly sporadically and it didn’t really get big within ARPA until the director made all the program directors to use it to communicate with him. If he hadn’t enforced that, email may have not gotten as big as it did so quickly – definitely something interesting to think about….
With email, the whole concept of freedom of speech was given a whole new meaning – freedom of speech, but in writing. This definitely is monumental in our transfer to the digital age.
In chapter 6 of Where the Wizards Stay Up Late, lots of drama comes up in this chapter. The IMP computer was experiencing many difficulties and challenges that the men had to fix. Roberts was getting upset with Honeywell and considered closing their deal after multiple failures and contention with their engineers. Heart and Roberts wanted to be able to connect new users to the net without going through a host computer – the user would connect directly to the IMP subnet. BBN came up with a terminal controller that could manage the traffic through dial-up lines – they named it the Terminal IMP. It is really interesting to me how people are able to communicate virtually at this point in the book. PARRY is a virtual conversationalist that “mimics a paranoid schizophrenic” – he sounds like an old version of Siri to be honest. I like this chapter a lot because things are really starting to progress in a language that I am finally able to understand! I also like how at the end, Bob Khan brings up electronic mail – so we know where the next chapter will take us!
In chapter 5 of Where the Wizards Stay Up Late, I have finally realized why this book is interesting! The personal details that introduce the each of the men in this book are really humorous and keeps this book from being too dry and dense. When the new people are brought into the story, we are given their background stories about how they are nerdy men from such and such graduate schools, and they each have their own quirky stories.
That being said, I also enjoyed reading about Crocker’s RFCs. The fact that he wrote these notes down and named them “Requests for Comments” is really clever. I thought it was really neat that he took the time to name them something that would sound respectful, but social – and in the end, the name stuck.
I find it interesting to see how/if Bob Taylor comes back into the picture after he leaves ARPA. I don’t really understand why he was being continuously sent over to Vietnam and what he had to do over there to help them, but the fact that he left ARPA in the middle of all that was going on is very interesting. Since this book started with Taylor, I assume he will eventually find his way back into the picture.
