[ih] Fwd: How Plato Influenced the Internet

[Stephen Casner]

On Thu, 10 Jun 2021, Jack Haverty via Internet-history wrote:

> I've had a similar experience as John.  In my time at MIT and BBN through the
> 60s/70s, I don't recall ever hearing anything about Plato, so it's not likely
> it had much influence in our work on ARPANET/Internet.
>
> IIRC, playing around with all sorts of graphics-capable terminals was popular
> back then - in the late 60s onward.   E.g., I had a student-job to create a
> graphical mechanical engineering simulation, and help the ME students do their
> designs, all using CTSS and an "ARDS" (Advanced Remote Display Station).  In
> another group at MIT, we had an Evans&Sutherland display, circa early 70s.
> People at another lab were playing with systems that used light pens.  In the
> later 70s, at BBN, we had a 3D display that could show wire-frame models of
> stuff, and let you rotate and manipulate it.
>
> AFAIK, few if any of these had much obvious influence outside their own
> communities.   Although they all had interesting technology, there were too
> few of them available for use as everyday terminals to your favorite computer
> system.   So they were good for demos, but not for mainstream work.

That Evans & Sutherland display may be the same one that Danny Cohen
used for the flight simulator that incorporated ARPAnet communication
between Harvard and BBN.  This was definitely a case where displays
and ARPAnet were both important, but it falls into your category of
demo not mainstream.  See the attached two slides from a Google Tech
Talk that Danny gave in 2010.

                                                        -- Steve