Re: Computers

Jeb Weisman (weisman@PACIFICU.EDU)
Tue, 7 Mar 1995 20:47:28 -0800

Not to mention the fact that many of the Fat Man and Little Boy
computations were done on an early military computer. Developments in
computation, programming, and the calculus of trajectories and nuclear
physics were then carried over into other military projects.

Furthermore, it was Sputnik and the US concern about Soviet dominance in
space, and science that motivated and funded much of the technology and
science education that resulted in the modern personal computer.

Also, while Bitnet did indeed operate separately from the DARPA network,
much of the underelying technology was directly the product of DARPA
initiatives. Bitnet also is, in large part, being decommisioned.

For an interesting timeline of "Internet" development, send e-mail to
timeline@hobbes.mitre.org.


Perhaps the most significant thing of all, though, is that the Internet
is no longer decentralized in the true sense of the word, being routed
through only 4 key points, rather than 15, which was the case until this
year.

Sorry about the feistiness, but I'm all riled up over the rather violent,
and essentially unreported student protests in Columbus at the end of
February.

-Jeb


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