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>Some people have suggested that the 1969 movie Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice was the origin of Alice and Bob. While it is possible—even likely—that Rivest, Shamir,
by prvc 7y ago
>Some people have suggested that the 1969 movie Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice was the origin of Alice and Bob. While it is possible—even likely—that Rivest, Shamir, and Adleman might have been familiar with the movie, there is no evidence to indicate that the movie influenced their naming decision. More likely, since Alice and Bob are common English names that start with A and B, the names were chosen without much forethought.
If their speculation, that the names are arbitrary, is true, why make so much out of it?
Compare with Smith and Jones, popular in philosophy.
Would also have been nice for the website to have supported https.
- prvc 7y ago>there is no evidence to indicate that the movie influenced their naming decision I'd like to add that the existence of a popular contemporary movie whose title is simply a list of names, half of which are the entirety of the names in question (said movie supposedly being a cultural touchstone for RSA's generation, the Boomers), makes the latter hypothesis the less likely one by default, in my view.
- gervase 7y agoCarol is also commonly used as the 'C' when a third agent is necessary.