[ih] sad news

[Vint Cerf]

https://www.hawaii.edu/news/2020/12/04/in-memoriam-norman-abramson/

bob kahn found this reference
v

<https://www.hawaii.edu/news/2020/12/04/in-memoriam-norman-abramson/>


On Sat, Dec 5, 2020 at 1:47 PM Guy Almes via Internet-history <
internet-history at elists.isoc.org> wrote:

> Steve,
>    An amazing anecdote -- thanks for it.
>    Norm seems to have contributed with both a practical system and good
> mathematical analysis of it.
>    In addition, he had a whimsical side.  At some point later in the
> 1970s, he visited the Computer Science department at Carnegie-Mellon and
> gave a talk on Alohanet etc.  During informal conversation, he expressed
> an interest in self-organizing systems.  He posited that you could build
> very small integrated devices that would include a processor/memory
> chip, a photovoltaic cell, and a rudimentary radio transceiver.  He
> mused on putting a dozen or so of them in a paper sack, shining a
> flashlight into it, and shaking it.  The phrase "shake and bake
> computing" came up in the conversation -- I don't recall whether from
> Norm or from one of the grad students.
>
>         -- Guy
>
> On 12/5/20 1:20 PM, Steve Crocker via Internet-history wrote:
> > [Including Bob Metcalfe just to be sure.]
> >
> > Aww.  Sadness.  I was working in the ARPA office in the early 1970s.  I
> > hadn't paid close attention to the Alohanet but I was aware of it.  Norm
> > visited the office and explained it to me.  I thought it was extremely
> cool
> > to have all the terminals send whenever they wanted and to retransmit if
> > the central node didn't acknowledge.  His math showed if the total
> traffic
> > offered was less than 1/2e of the channel's capacity, the retransmissions
> > would subside instead of exploding.  I remember marveling on the boldness
> > of not having any explicit form of multiplexor and offered a
> > McCluhanesque, "the medium is the multiplexor."
> >
> > I took home a copy of an AFIPS proceeding that had their paper in it.
> Bob
> > Metcalfe stayed overnight sometime after that.  I showed him the paper
> and
> > commented he might find it interesting.  He took the concept back to
> PARC,
> > put it on coax cable, called it Ethernet, and the rest is history.
> >
> > Steve
> >
> >
> > On Sat, Dec 5, 2020 at 1:10 PM vinton cerf <vgcerf at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >> I had a call this morning from the NY Times asking for background on
> Norm
> >> Abramson who apparently passed away very recently.
> >>
> >> vint
> >>
> >>
> --
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> Internet-history at elists.isoc.org
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>


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