The Future of the Internet (and Its Past)

I attended a talk this morning by Dr. Glenn Ricart on the future of the Internet, which it did deliver upon.  However, it also provided a highly entertaining tour of the Internet’s past from Dr. Ricart’s point of view – one that included stops at the first virus (written by his roommate), the best technique to endure the phosphor erasing flash of an old terminal (well-timed blink) and development of key technologies (IPv4 sure seemed like a good idea!)  There’s something so energizing about hearing the bearded sages of the early Internet talk through their contributions to its creation.  They all seems like they were just good people trying to figure out ways to get things done without being scared of the unknown – a style that goes far in technology.