[ih] 'internet' and "Internet" (fwd)

[Jack Haverty]

IMHO, the definition of words changes over time.   A word created in one 
small community can eventually escape into the larger world. Hundreds of 
people know precisely what a word means when their community defined 
it.  Billions of people in the larger world dictate what that word 
actually means as it gets into common use.

The word "Internet", however you capitalize it, was created in our own 
technocracy 50+ years ago.  It has since escaped into the wide world 
and, IMHO, is now defined by how billions of people use it. My 
neighbors, doctors, lawyers, et al, don't speak the language of our 
familiar acronyms - (TCP, UDP, DKIM, SMTP, HTML, etc.), but they all 
know what the Internet is.   They use it every day.

Personally, my definition of "Internet" is based on Licklider's vision 
of "Galactic Network" that he explained in memos back in the early 
1960s.  Lick was my thesis advisor and later boss at MIT for much of the 
1970s, and I was thoroughly indoctrinated into his vision.

Paraphrasing, the "Galactic Network" is the collection of computers 
scattered over a wide area (a galaxy?) interacting by some mechanism, 
and supporting people in doing everything people do. That definition 
encompasses a lot of machinery - computers, networks, software, 
applications, servers, services, protocols, algorithms, and everything 
else involved in how collections of cooperating computers assist all 
kinds of human activity.

The "Galactic Network" contains the Internet, all private internets and 
intranets, all computers, and all software running on those computers, 
as long as they can all somehow interact with each other in some way.

Good history at 
https://historyofcomputercommunications.info/section/4.1/the-intergalactic-network-1962-1964/ 
and one of Lick's early memos is at 
https://www.thekurzweillibrary.com/memorandum-for-members-and-affiliates-of-the-intergalactic-computer-network

To me, and apparently to my non-techie neighbors and the general public, 
Lick's "Galactic Network" is pretty close to what we all experience 
today.  They just call it "the Internet", or "the 'net".

-----

Concepts also change over time.  Fifty years ago, being "on the net" 
meant you were actively using some remote computer.  Perhaps it was 
using Telnet or FTP, or sending email.   Everything else you did with 
your computer was local - editting files, preparing documents, creating 
a spreadsheet, whatever.   You went "onto the net" as a human, used it, 
and then disconnected.

Today is quite different.  In my house, there are over 50 computers with 
IP addresses.  They're all active, many even when I'm away or asleep.   
They're communicating with other computers somewhere out there, 
hopefully doing things that are helping me do what I do.

Just last week, a computer somewhere out there finally found a Raspberry 
Pi in stock at some retailer and sent me a text message to alert me to 
go buy it.  The alarm bell on my phone woke me up.   I could have 
arranged for the purchase to happen automatically and a box would just 
appear on my doorstep without any action on my part; but I'm not 
comfortable with giving up that much control yet.

Was I "on the net" while all those computers were making that happen?

The Network Is The Computer.   The Computer Is The Network.   Pick your 
favorite phrase.  IMHO, the Internet is Lick's "Galactic Network", 
version 0.8 with a lot of refinement yet to be done.

Jack Haverty