IP: More on Breaking the Tech Myths (before they break us)

[Dave Farber <farber@cis.upenn.edu>]

From: cohen@myri.com
To: Dave Farber <farber@cis.upenn.edu>
Cc: Danny Cohen <Cohen@myri.com>
Subject: Breaking the Tech Myths (before they break us)
Date: Sun, 06 Dec 98 20:50:23 -0800

David,

I enjoyed reading Mr Douglas Rushkoff breaking five popular tech myths.

About the first myth he wrote:

        This myth came into popularity after a report by the Rand
        Corporation, a U.S. think tank that often works on military
        scenarios, was released onto the Internet. The report -- 
        written well after the Internet came into existence -- did
        make the observation that a decentralized communications
        infrastructure could potentially resist conventional attacks. It
        had nothing to do with the development of the Internet itself.

Well, the RAND report (by Paul Baran) was released in 1964, and was
obviously written earlier (1962? 1963?).  The ARPAnet started in 1969
and the internet several years later.

The Baran report was used by ARPA to convince DoD to invest in the
packet switching technology, in order to support survivable Command and
Control networks.

In his "The report -- written well after the Internet came into
existence" Mr. Rushkof is obviously using the word "after" in a way that
I was not previously aware of.
                                                               Danny