In an age where answers to the most random questions, like indoor land speed records or the weight of the Earth, are just a few clicks away, we often rely on the giant network that makes it all possible: the Internet. We take it for granted. At the heart of this technological marvel are pioneers such as Vint Cerf, Steve Crocker, and Bob Kahn, whose groundbreaking work has shaped the digital world we live in today. I’ve built the structure.
Despite their monumental achievements, these innovators remain modest about their contributions. “One of the big problems with the Internet is that most people don’t really understand what it is,” Khan said.
Their journey began with a simple but innovative idea: to develop the technology and software needed to send data from one computer to another and eventually around the world. .
“I don’t think the Internet is a physical thing. I think the physical thing is an implementation of Internet protocols,” Khan said.
“Bob takes an interesting philosophical view on this,” Cerf said. “You have a description of how something works, and you have to implement that description into something called a computer or a router or whatever.”
“The key is to explain how it works, so we can keep building new things that work in new ways to make the Internet even more interesting,” Cerf said.
That’s what allowed their nascent network to blossom into a whole world of interconnected laptops, smartphones, speakers, and headsets. All of this has changed the way we and they do things.
Cerf’s surprise at discovering the incredible “everything that needed to work” for a simple Google search to return results never faded.
The origins of the Internet can be traced back to ARPANET, a military tool developed in collaboration with Joseph Horney, a retired US Air Force major who passed away last month. His ARPANET, the precursor to the Internet, was developed to support the military and is very different from the Internet’s current role as a platform for socializing, entertainment, and community building.
“We always had this technology and my dad would push it in and show it to my mom, but no one knew what it was,” said Horney’s daughter, Christine Horney Dare. = Brian looks back.
As her father grew older, Ink magazine editor Dare Bryan decided to record his father’s stories and build a podcast about the founder of the Internet. She chose the name of the podcast after the term her father used to name these innovators before her.
“He called them ‘computer freaks.’ In , we had something that was used to socialize and find community,” Dare Bryan said.
But while there are many ways their work has improved our lives and their efforts, it has also brought some challenges to people. privacy and personal connections.
The ease with which misinformation and disinformation can spread is a major concern. Cerf said he has no regrets and believes internet abuse is a human problem, not a technical flaw. “That’s their responsibility,” Cerf said.
“I just hope that things like the Internet will continue to be a part of the society we live in, and that in time, someone will remember the small role I played in it.” said Cerf. .
