3 ms·

> not so much huge progress later on aside from evolutionary stuff. shouldn't the internet be considered the greatest achievement yet?

• 0xffff2 7y ago
  The internet is not a technology unto itself. Rather, it's an application of technology. The internet of today is vastly different from the internet of the 1960s (which GP included in their list), but it's not fundamentally different at a technological level. The change of the internet from ARPANET to today is driven by nothing more than incremental improvement in existing technologies. When was the last time a new technology reached commercial success?
  • kmlx 7y ago
    that's a weak argument imo. all technologies can be considered applications of other technologies, from steel making to space faring.
    • coldtea 7y ago
      Well, even if "all technologies can be considered applications of other technologies" some are less so than others. Besides we're not talking about mere products here, but core technologies, e.g. inventions. The steam engine, the combustion engine, electricity, the telephone, laser, microwave, satellites, and so on, weren't mere "applications of other technologies" and even less so a mere incremental bump in the way modern internet vs 60s/70s internet is.
• coldtea 7y ago
  We already had the internet invented in the 60s (ARPANET). And even a better conception of the www idea (Xanadu). The rest is evolutionary stuff -- and we haven't done better since, just spread the technology to everybody.