ARPANET Source Note
@denningScienceComputingARPANET1989 date: 2023-04-03 type: reference
tags::
Reference¶
- Denning, PJ. 1989 The Science of Computing: The ARPANET after Twenty Years. American Scientist 77(6): 530–534.
Annotations:¶
- @denningScienceComputingARPANET1989¶
Summary & Key Takeaways¶
- Denning begins as he explains that ARPANET was created by the US military in response to a need for a fast and reliable communication system. Paul Baran, a researcher, concluded that a distributed network of computers would be the most robust communication system, which would function as nodes and communicate through an interconnected path of working nodes even with the loss of a node. As the use of the ARPANET grew, the network expanded to other networks. This led to the creation of many new community networks, which had a significant impact on the world. The author notes that if the inventors of the car or the telephone were brought back, they would be surprised to see that the physical components or the initial intent of its use has not changed. They would also be surprised to see that there has been a significant change in the way people use it. The author also discusses the five stages of technological discourse: declarations, prototypes, tools, industries, and widespread practice. Electronic mail was not the intent of the network, but it quickly grew to be the most popular use of the ARPANET. The author predicts four different discourses: scientific technology, business, higher education, and government and goes into detail about what conflicts they may cause or benefits that they would bring. The author notes that the significance of the ARPANET and its derivatives lies not in the networking technology, but in the fundamental shifts in human practices. The article also discusses two critical conflicts that may arise with the network: security and trust. Both of which can be related to today's technology.