Y490 Politics of the Internet September 25, 2012

Internet Pioneers Joseph Carl Robnett LickliderJoseph Carl Robnett Licklider: developed the idea of a universal network while working at DARPA Robert TaylorRobert Taylor: succeeded Licklider at DARPA Information Processing Techniques Office (IPTO) He also was a big supporter of time-sharing vs. batch processing computers. Video

What Did Licklider Want?  The Department of Defense operated computers or computer-like equipment for many different functions:  Missiles and satellites, Strategic Air command  Battleship control systems  Army field operations  Licklider wanted all of them to be able to communicate with each other

More Internet Pioneers L-R: Vint Cerf, Robert Kahn, Len Kleinrock, and Larry Roberts –Vint Cerf Robert KahnLen KleinrockLarry Roberts Team members from Bolt, Beranek and Newman (BBN) and the Lincoln Labs at MIT and later at UCLA who created the first IMP and connected the first two nodes.IMP

Key Innovations  TCP/IP Routers and Packet Switches  Local Area Networks (LANs) Local Area Networks Local Area Networks  Fiber Optics (big Internet pipes) Fiber Optics Fiber Optics  UNIX with TCP/IP kernel UNIX  Integration of TCP/IP into all computers  Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) Hypertext Markup Language Hypertext Markup Language  Multimedia standards and protocols Multimedia

TCP/IP  TCP = transfer control protocol  IP = Internet protocol  Pioneered by Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn

Three Types of Switching  Circuit  Message  Packet video on the difference between circuit and packet switching

What does a packet look like?

Advantages of Packet Switching over Message Switching  Packets all have the same size  No waiting for entire message to end before sending next message  More options in routing

Pioneers of Packet Switching  Paul Baran Paul Baran Paul Baran  Donald Davies Donald Davies Donald Davies Baran was concerned about creating a network that could survive a nuclear attack. Davies was looking for a more efficient network that would work with time-sharing systems. Davies came up with the name; both given credit for the concept.

Ethernet  Developed by Robert Metcalfe and others at Xerox PARC in Robert MetcalfeXerox PARCRobert MetcalfeXerox PARC  Connects computers locally and allows them to connect to the Internet from one shared node

Ethernet and the Internet  Ethernet made it possible for offices to network computers locally (via Local Area Networks or LANs) without connecting them directly to large, mainframe computers  Wide Area Networks (WANs) did the same for organizations with multiple sites  The Internet was adapted for connecting LANs and WANs as well as larger computers

Fiber Optics and the Internet Backbone  In order to speed up first voice and later data communications on the public switched network, the US and other countries moved from satellite and copper cable networks to fiber optics networks Sergey Brin on TED

Undersea Fiber Optic Cables

Fiber moves closer to home  Fiber backbone  Fiber to the curb (FTTC)  Fiber to the home (FTTH)

Pioneers of the Web: 1980  Tim Berners-Lee  Robert Caillau HTML developed for scientists at The CERN complex in Geneva

What is HTML?  Hypertext Markup Language  Predominant standard for creating web pages and web sites  These pages can be accessed by standard “web browsers”  Permits the combination of text, graphics, and other media on a single page and links to other pages

URLs  Uniform Resource Locators  A system for locating uniform resource names (URNs) on the Internet  For example, the URL identifies a resource that is obtainable via HTTP (hypertext transfer protocol) from a network called

World Wide Web  Berners-Lee and Cailliau proposed in March 1989 the creation of what was to become the World Wide Web.  They went on to create the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) to make technical decisions about it.

The Rise of Microcomputers and Hacker Culture  1976 Apple I computer sold to computer hobbyists Apple IApple I  Paul Allen and Bill Gates create a BASIC language compiler for microcomputers Bill GatesBill Gates  1981 IBM PC begins to compete in the microcomputer market

What motivated the PC revolution?  Desire for the dispersion of computing power to “the people”  Avoiding dependence on large, centralized computing systems owned by large organizations

Some Interesting Historical Facts  Although Apple led the way to mass consumer markets, it was overtaken by PCs and PC-clones in the 1980s  Microsoft was the main beneficiary of the rise of PC clones  The switch from narrow band to broadband networks enabled the rise of web-based firms like Google and Facebook

Good Questions in the Textbook  How has the historical development of the Internet shaped its contemporary characteristics?  Is TCP/IP a radical communication technology?  How important is the do-it-yourself, or hacker, ethos for making sense of the Internet’s development?  Assess the impact of the World Wide Web and the graphical browser on the diffusion of the Internet.