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Early Internet History
Posted by Raven on June 17th, 2008
Some fascinating history about the Internet.
In 1934, Otlet sketched out plans for a global network of computers (or “electric telescopes,” as he called them) that would allow people to search and browse through millions of interlinked documents, images, audio and video files. He described how people would use the devices to send messages to one another, share files and even congregate in online social networks. He called the whole thing a “réseau,” which might be translated as “network” — or arguably, “web.”
June 17th, 2008 at 10:21 am
He wrote about this undoubtedly AFTER consulting with Algore.
No, wait, it must have been his tobacco-baron daddy that was consulted! Algore wasn’t born yet.
June 17th, 2008 at 12:43 pm
BWAHAHAH I didn’t even think of the Alborian. LOL thanks for the laugh!!
:mrgreen:
June 19th, 2008 at 11:25 pm
The first computer, ENIAC was not completed until 1946. Thus while Otter may have envisioned a concept of linking multiple machines together, he was operating in a pre-computer age and structure of his interconnections was structurally quite distinct from today’s internet.
Certainly a curious, little-known historical footnote, but as I interpret the article, Otter was not an ancestor to today’s internet. Otter’s relationship to the internet would be more analogous to Australopithecus on the human evolutionary tree.