> v4 was built around the idea of multiple free standing networks linked by gateways It was absolutely not. This is why early companies like Apple and Ford got

> v4 was built around the idea of multiple free standing networks linked by gateways It was absolutely not. This is why early companies like Apple and Ford got massive IP allocations - each computer was expected to have a unique IP address. NAT didn't exist until 14 years after IPv4 was created, in response to the shortage of IPv4 addresses, and in the RFC it is described as a "short-term solution", very clearly stated that his not how the internet is designed to work and it should only be used as a stopgap until we get longer addresses.