[ih] birth of the Internet?

[Dave CROCKER]

> Actually, now that I think about it, the credit for the one of these
> milestones probably belongs to the PARC guys, using PUP. (I don't know if
> Vint's early TCP work at Stanford met i), or the PARC guys might have snagged
> that one too.)


There is often an interesting challenging in distinguishing between credit for 
winning concepts, credit for important research demonstration, versus credit for 
delivering a 'successful' solution.  Each step is essential, but different.

The original web was the last of these.  Essentially all of its ideas has been 
demonstrated far earlier and one could reasonably argue that there had been 
meaningful "integration" demonstrations earlier also.  What the Web did was a 
winning systems integration that became a production network.

My understanding is that PARC had meaningful internetworking running in the 
earlier 70s, so that they probably win on the first two milestones.  (A careful 
comparison of the technical differences between their design choices and the 
Internet's could be useful for teaching.)

On the other hand, I heard that a session at the first ICCC (where the Arpanet 
was demonstrated in the fall of 1972) had the first discussions on 
Internetworking.  So that might be where the credit for the 'idea' goes.

If this sounds like it serves to reduce the credit due specifically to the 
Internet work, it very much does not.

We tend to vastly underrate the task of "systems engineering" that produces 
successful services out of established technology components (ideas).  Given how 
often systems designs fail, this lack of due credit always mystifies me.

d/
-- 

   Dave Crocker
   Brandenburg InternetWorking
   bbiw.net