With the forthcoming book almost complete, there are one or two matters that I had to get to the bottom of. Foremost among them, Al Gore's involvement in the development of the Internet, and the controversy that surrounded this question in the 2000 presidential election... For a brief moment during the 2000 presidential election in … Continue reading Al Gore and the Internet
Category: Technology
The origins of “smart casual”?
Short teaser from the forthcoming book... The tailored suit has a long history. The coat, waistcoat, and breeches gradually became the gentleman’s mainstay from the English Restoration in the 1660s onward, when the elaborate dress common at European courts fell out of favor. Embroidery and silk died out from the middle of the 18th century … Continue reading The origins of “smart casual”?
The bubble… (eBay, Amazon, Netscape, Webvan, Pets.com…)
Continuing from the earlier snippet about the Dot Com Collapse... this is a continuing piece from the forthcoming book. (feedback welcome) The collapse had been foreseen by a shrewd few. In early December 1996, Alan Greenspan, the Chairman of the US Federal Reserve, attended a dinner in his honor at the American Enterprise Institute. After … Continue reading The bubble… (eBay, Amazon, Netscape, Webvan, Pets.com…)
Short note on the virulent growth of WWW + Internet, 1988-1997
Some data from the book. On 25 July 1994, the front cover of Time Magazine announced ‘the strange new world of the Internet’. The Internet was of course only new to those who had not known of it previously. What was new was the WWW, which put a user friendly face on the network. Also … Continue reading Short note on the virulent growth of WWW + Internet, 1988-1997
Communities beyond geography: Phone phreakers
More for the book... In 1957, a blind, five year old boy named Joe Engressia first realized that he could control the phone system and make long distance phone calls at no cost by whistling a specific pitch down the phone line. The AT&T phone network used twelve combinations of six audio tones as control … Continue reading Communities beyond geography: Phone phreakers
1840s – Ada Lovelace (Byron’s daughter!) becomes world’s first programmer
This appears in my book A history of the Internet and the digital future - see kind words from Cory Doctorow, Marc Benioff, and others here. On 12 February 1812, Lord Byron, perhaps the most outrageous and disreputable of the English poets, took the floor at the House of Lords to begin his maiden speech. … Continue reading 1840s – Ada Lovelace (Byron’s daughter!) becomes world’s first programmer
Quick note on ‘Openness’
The word 'Openness' is attractive as the keystone of the book's title. And yet it is controversial. It may even be inaccurate. The 'Open' word as I am using it first came to me when I read interviews with Paul Baran in which he talked about two startling things: first, how RAND published his secret research because they believed … Continue reading Quick note on ‘Openness’
Silicon Valley Landmark: Zott’s and the packet radio test
San Francisco features disproportionately in the history of the digital age. Yet despite the historical coverage it receives, little attention has been given to one of its landmarks, a small wood paneled tavern known as “Zott's” – officially named “The Alpine Inn” since the mid 1950s. Its first owner was a Mexican who moved from … Continue reading Silicon Valley Landmark: Zott’s and the packet radio test
Internet growth before WWW
Some figures on Internet growth from 1981 to 1993. This is growth in the Internet before WWW. Date----Hosts 08/81---213 10/85---1,961 10/89---159,000 10/93----2,056,000 data originally hosted at <NIC.MERIT.EDU> /nsfnet/statistics/history.hosts 3 February 1994 (no longer online)
Caffeine Curve
Credit to the original genius who drew this (not me)
The tulip, NASDAQ, and the dot-com crash
I'm studying the dot-com crash for the book... (the image is the Pets.com sock puppet) From 1634-1637 a wave of enthusiasm and investment swept the Dutch Republic, the object of which was the tulip. At home, the tulip was becoming an important element of Turkish court culture, to the extent that the Sultan of the … Continue reading The tulip, NASDAQ, and the dot-com crash
Innovation in the shadow of the Nuke
Researching my forthcoming book on the history of the 'Net, I'm investigating the nuclear context. By the mid 1960s the Air Force had upgraded its early nuclear missiles to use solid-state propellants. The new solid-state weapons brought the launch time down from eight hours to a matter of minutes. Yet while US missiles were becoming … Continue reading Innovation in the shadow of the Nuke
The MP3, its origins, and its impact
Continuing on the music theme for my forthcoming book, and the disruption caused by the Internet to established industries... In 1996, the song ‘Until it sleeps’ by Metallica became the first track to be illegally copied from CD, encoded as an MP3, and made available on the Internet by a user operating under the nickname … Continue reading The MP3, its origins, and its impact
Kleinrock on ARPANET chatter
Researching my book on the history of the Internet, I asked Len Kleinrock three key questions yesterday. I asked him at what point it was clear that the early ARPANET - the forerunner to the Internet - became dominated by informal chatter between researchers. The answer was interesting. The point at which it became abundantly … Continue reading Kleinrock on ARPANET chatter
Update on next book – on the history of the Net
This is among the most interesting things I have done yet. In September 2009, I am due to submit a manuscript for a book on the history of the Internet to Reaktion Press, London. Background research has taken me on a path through some of the most interesting events and documents of the last century. … Continue reading Update on next book – on the history of the Net
Choose a book title
With my submission date to Reaktion Press still 13 months away, I have to choose a book title that I can work to. I'm pretty new to this side of things, so some points to keep in mind. First, the title of my first book was fifteen words long, to my thinking, that's three times … Continue reading Choose a book title
Dr Johnny Ryan FRHistS 