From: Harvey Newstrom <mail@HarveyNewstrom.com>
_________________________________________________________________
>New York Times, John Markoff, December 29, 1988:
_________________________________________________________________
>Computer scientists and Government officials are urging the
>creation of a nationwide "data superhighway" that they believe
>would have a dramatic economic impact, rivaling that of the
>nation's interstate highway system.
>This highway would consist of a high-speed fiber-optic data
>network joining dozens of supercomputers at national laboratories
>and making them available to thousands of academic and industry
>researchers around the country ...
>Legislation introduced in October by Senator Albert Gore, Democrat
>of Tennessee, included initial financing for development and
>construction of a National Research Network. Backers of the
>measure say that Federal financing for the project is necessary to
>develop the technology and convince industry that vastly speedier
>computer networks are commercially viable.
Yes, the "Information Superhighway" it was never built.
>The Houston Chronicle, "Data superhighway' for nation's computers
>approved by Congress", November 30, 1991:
_________________________________________________________________
>A plan to create a high-tech "data superhighway" likened in
>importance to the creation of the nation's highway system has been
>approved by Congress and sent to President Bush for his signature.
>The plan would create a high-speed national computer networking
>infrastructure that would link computers in the nation's research,
>education and military establishments.
>Proponents say that this network eventually will evolve into a
>universally available National Public Telecomputing Network that
>may be the successor to the telephone system, marrying the
>entertainment, communications and computer industries.
>The High-Performance Computing Act of 1991, which contains the
>plan, was approved by a House-Senate conference committee over the
>weekend after being stalled for several weeks because of
>disagreement over a "buy American first" provision.
>The bill, sponsored by Sen. Albert Gore, D-Tenn., does not provide
>funding for the effort. Budget allocations and appropriations must
>be made individually during each year of the program.
The Internet was well established by this time. Note that my
current Internet address, talon57@well.com, is over two years old
at this point, I, a non-government, non-university person had been
on the Internet for over two years with my current address.
>Time Magazine interview with Vint Cerf, inventor of the Internet
>Protocol, June 14, 2000:
_________________________________________________________________
_____
>Timehost: Welcome to the TIME auditorium. We're thrilled to have
>as our guest Vinton Cerf, one of the inventors of the Internet.
>Mr. Cerf has just written an article for TIME magazine, in which
>he says that the Internet will be everywhere. Even, literally, in
>our bodies! So send in your questions about the past, present and
>future of the Internet. Who better to answer those questions than
>the man who invented the Internet? (Sorry, Al Gore)
>Timehost: Mr. Cerf is now with us. Welcome!
>Vinton Cerf: Good evening, or whatever time zone you are in, hi!!
>While we're waiting for questions, I'd like to clear up one little
>item - about the Vice President ... He really does deserve some
>credit for his early recognition of the importance of the Internet
>and the technology that makes it work. He was certainly among the
>first if not the first in Congress to realize how powerful the
>information revolution would be and both as Senator and Vice
>President he has been enormously helpful in supporting legislation
>and programs to help further develop the Internet - for example
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>the Next Generation Internet program. I get to see a lot of this
>stuff because I am a member of the President's Information
>Technology Advisory Committee and we regularly review the R&D
>programs of the US Government and many have relevance to the
>evolving Internet.
Some credit, yes, he was one of many who appreciated the Internet
early. This is a far cry from what both he and his supporters claim
however.
Lets not forget his other accomplishments, the digital telephony
act that put a government backdoor in every telephone central
office and the infamous Clipper chip, not to mention trying to
throw Phil Zimmerman in jail.....
Brian
Member:
Extropy Institute, www.extropy.org
Adler Planetarium www.adlerplanetarium.org
Life Extension Foundation, www.lef.org
National Rifle Association, www.nra.org, 1.800.672.3888
Ameritech Data Center Chicago, IL, Local 134 I.B.E.W
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Mon May 28 2001 - 09:50:38 MDT