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Here's an interesting and very relevant TED talk: http://www.ted.com/talks/danny_hillis_the_internet_could_crash_we_need_a_plan_b.html http://www.ted.com/talks

Here's an interesting and very relevant TED talk: http://www.ted.com/talks/danny_hillis_the_internet_could_crash_we_need_a_plan_b.html http://www.ted.com/talks/danny_hillis_the_internet_could_cra... The Internet was not conceived to be what it has become. Having had a front row seat to watch it go from academia to what it has become today one can only be in awe of what --I'm gonna say it-- private enterprise, capitalism and the drive to succeed can produce. Yes, it is not perfect. What project at this scale is?

cma 14y ago
> private enterprise, capitalism Shouldn't you also include public spending's role; e.g. CERN?
- robomartin 14y ago
  The explosion of the Internet into every nook and cranny is and was a 100% due to massive private investment at all levels. It was a rush for gold. Fortunes made and lost. EDIT: Strange words replaced. Damn iPad auto-text!
  - cma 14y ago
    The Internet is different from the Web. It is off topic, but if you want to go into that, the Internet as distinct from the Web had an even bigger public kick-start.
    - robomartin 14y ago
      Of course the two are interdependent. And both were grown to what we have today by private enterprise not government. Knowing what I know I'll venture to say that the public sector contribution to building either the web or the Internet is just-about microscopic when compared to private investment in both time and money. Yes, there was a kick-start phase, but it was nothing compared to what came later. Furthermore, it was done without intent, purpose or even an idea of what it could become. It was simply a communications network for the military at first and for a select few universities later. In the TED video I linked the presenter is holding a small book that contained every single person using the Internet at the time. What's interesting is that he registered the third Internet domain, so he was there from the very start. I was peripherally involved with a couple of interesting private efforts in the early days of the gold rush. One of them was a group led by Phil Anschutz. He owned the right-of-way along major railway routes. They trenches the heck out of those routes to lay in massive amounts of dark fiber. A huge investment in the future that I am sure payed off handsomely.
- mturmon 14y ago
  And the role of regulation (US vs. Microsoft)? And non-profit advocacy groups (W3C)?
  - robomartin 14y ago
    If you are looking for the public sector to somehow be a hero in this story, well, in my opinion it simply isn't going to happen. The public sector investment in any conceivable category is almost beyond insignificant at this stage of the game in the context of what it has taken to get here. I have yet to see a transcript of a single Senator, Representative, President or any policy-maker with influence pre-dating the Internet and WWW that describes how they are going to take steps A, B, C and D and invest in E, F, G and H because of this thing called the "Internet" that will be a big deal. In other words, nobody had a clue. It just happened and private enterprise made it happen. Not the public sector, regulation, or government in almost any way one could imagine. In fact the inter-university network was largely a part of scientists trying to come-up with a way to communicate with each other. There was no government mandate or higher vision that delivered a document to these guys and said: "Lease these communications lines, connect your PDP 11/34's to them and build something that will do A, B, C, D". I know that in pro-government or pro-public sector circles it is quite romantic to get behind the idea that we owe the Internet and the WWW to our government, but that is very far from the truth. Few things of real worth happen due to master planning. This is particularly true of things that actually work well. Yes, we are great at killing people in massive numbers. I mean, name one Senator today who is able to articulate --and has been driving-- the next major idea in science and technology. Please don't name anyone behind solar or wind power. Private enterprise has been bleeding money for decades in those industries to get it to the point where now a Senator might actually recognize it as something interesting to pursue. I'm talking about things that do not exists today. And, BTW, it is perfectly OK to disagree. If you are invested in your belief system it isn't my intention, to any degree imaginable, to try to change how you think. Only you can do that. I am merely stating my position here. Chances are you think I am completely wrong, and that's OK.
    - ucee054 14y ago
      Few things of real worth happen due to master planning Those few things include Japan, South Korea and Singapore. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zaibatsu http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zaibatsu http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Economy,_Trade_and_Industry http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Economy,_Trade_and_... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaebol http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaebol http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_Development_Board http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_Development_Board

cma 14y ago

> private enterprise, capitalism Shouldn't you also include public spending's role; e.g. CERN?

robomartin 14y ago
The explosion of the Internet into every nook and cranny is and was a 100% due to massive private investment at all levels. It was a rush for gold. Fortunes made and lost. EDIT: Strange words replaced. Damn iPad auto-text!
- cma 14y ago
  The Internet is different from the Web. It is off topic, but if you want to go into that, the Internet as distinct from the Web had an even bigger public kick-start.
  - robomartin 14y ago
    Of course the two are interdependent. And both were grown to what we have today by private enterprise not government. Knowing what I know I'll venture to say that the public sector contribution to building either the web or the Internet is just-about microscopic when compared to private investment in both time and money. Yes, there was a kick-start phase, but it was nothing compared to what came later. Furthermore, it was done without intent, purpose or even an idea of what it could become. It was simply a communications network for the military at first and for a select few universities later. In the TED video I linked the presenter is holding a small book that contained every single person using the Internet at the time. What's interesting is that he registered the third Internet domain, so he was there from the very start. I was peripherally involved with a couple of interesting private efforts in the early days of the gold rush. One of them was a group led by Phil Anschutz. He owned the right-of-way along major railway routes. They trenches the heck out of those routes to lay in massive amounts of dark fiber. A huge investment in the future that I am sure payed off handsomely.
mturmon 14y ago
And the role of regulation (US vs. Microsoft)? And non-profit advocacy groups (W3C)?
- robomartin 14y ago
  If you are looking for the public sector to somehow be a hero in this story, well, in my opinion it simply isn't going to happen. The public sector investment in any conceivable category is almost beyond insignificant at this stage of the game in the context of what it has taken to get here. I have yet to see a transcript of a single Senator, Representative, President or any policy-maker with influence pre-dating the Internet and WWW that describes how they are going to take steps A, B, C and D and invest in E, F, G and H because of this thing called the "Internet" that will be a big deal. In other words, nobody had a clue. It just happened and private enterprise made it happen. Not the public sector, regulation, or government in almost any way one could imagine. In fact the inter-university network was largely a part of scientists trying to come-up with a way to communicate with each other. There was no government mandate or higher vision that delivered a document to these guys and said: "Lease these communications lines, connect your PDP 11/34's to them and build something that will do A, B, C, D". I know that in pro-government or pro-public sector circles it is quite romantic to get behind the idea that we owe the Internet and the WWW to our government, but that is very far from the truth. Few things of real worth happen due to master planning. This is particularly true of things that actually work well. Yes, we are great at killing people in massive numbers. I mean, name one Senator today who is able to articulate --and has been driving-- the next major idea in science and technology. Please don't name anyone behind solar or wind power. Private enterprise has been bleeding money for decades in those industries to get it to the point where now a Senator might actually recognize it as something interesting to pursue. I'm talking about things that do not exists today. And, BTW, it is perfectly OK to disagree. If you are invested in your belief system it isn't my intention, to any degree imaginable, to try to change how you think. Only you can do that. I am merely stating my position here. Chances are you think I am completely wrong, and that's OK.
  - ucee054 14y ago
    Few things of real worth happen due to master planning Those few things include Japan, South Korea and Singapore. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zaibatsu http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zaibatsu http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Economy,_Trade_and_Industry http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Economy,_Trade_and_... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaebol http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaebol http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_Development_Board http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_Development_Board