I’ve just been reading this article in a national newspaper, covering Vint Cerf’s remarks about the IPv4 addresses running out. The article is fine, and the subject absolutely news-worthy. What annoys me is the comments from the great unwashed.
And I quote;
This piece seems pointless. I can’t image that IP addresses will run out. Of course something will be done. Look at the telephone number changes we’ve had over the years. Ridiculous.
A short few quotations from someone, no expert analysis of what’s being said, this merely seems like a plug, as if he’s got a book to flog. Except he’s just popping to some conference, or something.
Vint Cerf isHead of Evangelism at Google. What the heck is that, anyway?He was hired to build relations with the computer science community, in particular with a certain breed of geek who see him as a kind of guru. However, I’m disinclined to believe most of Cerf says, as he has a serious potty streak. I’m not sure he has had anything relevant to say since the 1970s.
Ok. Let’s get this straight. Vint Cerf worked for DARPA (Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency), who developed “ARPANET” - the military fore-runner of the internet. He effectively invented TCP/IP - or “packet switching” as it is often called.
Without TCP/IP, computers would not be talking to each other across the internet, your workplace, or even your house. It’s difficult to relate how important the methods invented to network computers are - it’s the subject of some pretty incredible books, so I’m not going to try and tell the story myself - go buy them, read, and you’ll be surprised how interesting it actually is;
Where Wizards Stay Up Late - the Origins of the Internet
Hackers - Heroes of the Computer Revolution
The “Hackers” book should be singled out because it also tells the story of the two guys who started out making phone phreaking kits and selling them to friends (spoiler - if a policeman that stopped them one night had realised what he was looking at, Apple would never have existed).
I’m getting side-tracked. At some point, the luminaries from the formative years of the internet and the world wide web should be given the Nobel Prize - if for nothing else than to make the public more aware of the importance of their contribution, and the brilliance of their work.