[ih] internet-history Digest, Vol 13, Issue 1

[Dave Crocker]

> Mike Muuss performed an invaluable service in writing the original
> Unix Ping program, but he did not "invent" the ping function.


Indeed the value of (finally) packaging earlier invention(s) into a usable -- 
or, more importantly, successful -- system is rather substantial and frequently 
under-rated.

The Web and Unix are often cited as other examples.

Packaging into a usable system is its own brand of invention, and the earlier, 
more basic, work tends to be useless without it. Look at how long the web's 
constructs languished after invention, until brought together with the right 
mixture of power and ease of use.

d/
-- 

Dave Crocker
Brandenburg InternetWorking
<http://bbiw.net>