Gore Announces S.O.S.

Before Al Gore came along, let's examine the state of computer networking for the consumer with a computer. You had dialup, not cable or DSL. That's okay, because you can hook up to a network using the phone.

However, what are you going to hook up TO? In the pre-internet days, there were two options.

A) If you know the local phone numbers of the computer BB's (Bulletin Boards, what webpages used to be called), you can survey the offerings some hobbyist had put up there. To prevent spam, many Bulletin Board operators had you fill out an online form with your phone number, and then would grant you access to the rest of the site ONLY after the phone call established you were a real person and not a bot. Most of the BB's were free, and their content was limited to the resources of the individual who operated the site. Generally, this would be a few simple pages or some simple online programs.

Then there were the really big BB's like Compuserve and America Online. For a $50 monthly fee, they provided access to their site not by one phone, but by a whole network of phone numbers locally available to just about everyone. And their site, by the standard of the little local Bulletin Board operators, was enormous, with all sorts of financial, educational and entertainment information. It seemed like a pretty wonderful collection-but it was not the internet. After all was said and done, it was just a collection of things that the owners of the site decided would be interesting. It was much larger than what the local BB operators, hobbyists mostly, could produce. But it was limited in scope. the internet, as we all know, is unlimited.

If Al Gore had not come along to listen to the scientists' plans to establish an unlimited civilian network, there is little doubt that whatever networking became available to the consumer would come through an improved AOL, Compuserve, and the like. That is, expanding number of pages, expanding amount of programs and resources, etc. Expanding-but LIMITED. There is only so much bandwidth on a site, only so many experts you can hire to put things on the site they feel are interesting. The people would not have the unlimited choice they now enjoy, where most anyone can put up most anything on the internet, and once you are connected you don't have to bother with different phone calls to different BB's. Once you get on the internet, the entire cyber-world is yours. That is so much better than a larger, improved Compuserve or AOL, which is what we would have if Al Gore had not stepped up and did what he did.

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Who or what is your source for all this, kelticwizard?

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I had the sources listed for this on my old computer, whose possibly broken hard drive sits in my desk drawer at the moment. The info is available if you Google. However, I will come up with some sources for you in the next day.

You might consider Googling or ask.coming or dogpiling or whatever yourself-the info is legit as far as Gore's actions.

As far as Bulletin Boards, etc, that is my own personal experience-and the experience of every honest member who ever used a modem before the internet came into existence. Or who didn't want to pay to join it yet-at first it was expensive. A good friend of mine operated a Bulletin Board, and he dragged me down once to a meeting where a representative of the phone company gave a lecture about the services available to BB operators who were operating OUTSIDE the internet-there were still a few for awhile after the internet came into existence.

As for the AOL-Compuserve thing, well, you had to be there. Some folks might remember the scandal which happened after AOL decided to allow access to the internet as part of it's package of allowing access to it's own BB pages-of course the internet motivation swamped the use of AOL's own material among the new coustomers. The price was $25, and AOL advertised the heck out of the deal all over TV.

Too bad they didn't take some of the advertising money and actually purchase enough modems to actually connect their new customers to the internet without waiting. Connection to the internet between 5 and 7 PM, when people first came home from work, was virtually impossible through AOL for awhile. They later straightened the problem out-AFTER they got a whole slew of new customers advertising their access to the internet.

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The reason I asked about your sources is that your timeline doesn't seem to work. To my knowledge, the Pentagon shut off the military part of the Arpanet in the 1983. The National Science Foundation started up its NSFnet the same year. Gore's "High Performance Computing and Communication Act" was passed in 1991 -- pretty late in the formation of the internet. Wikipedia agrees with my recollection of the timeline.

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I looked up Gore's quote, and apparently he said ""I took the initiative in creating the Internet." I don't see much difference between the word, "creating" and "inventing." The fact is Gore merely had a hand in legislation to expand the access of networking, but it is preposterous to assume that without Gore, there would be no internet.

I stand by my comment that if Gore appreciated the capabilities of the internet that he "invented" or if anyone insists, we can say instead he "created" it, he could cut down on the extremely wasteful lifestyle he is leading now.

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okie wrote:

I looked up Gore's quote, and apparently he said ""I took the initiative in creating the Internet." I don't see much difference between the word, "creating" and "inventing." The fact is Gore merely had a hand in legislation to expand the access of networking, but it is preposterous to assume that without Gore, there would be no internet.

I stand by my comment that if Gore appreciated the capabilities of the internet that he "invented" or if anyone insists, we can say instead he "created" it, he could cut down on the extremely wasteful lifestyle he is leading now.

Huh? So which one is it?

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Thomas wrote:

Gore's "High Performance Computing and Communication Act" was passed in 1991 -- pretty late in the formation of the internet. Wikipedia agrees with my recollection of the timeline.

Thomas please note this speech Gore made on the floor of the Senate in 1986-for a bill he had already introduced. Notice how the bill funds the research for this network and the supercomputers necessary to establish it:

Quote:

Mr. President, it gives me great pleasure to support the proposed national science foundation authorization act.

Within this bill I have two amendments, the computer network study and the greenhouse effect report. The first amendment was originally introduced with Senator Gorton as s. 2594. It calls for a 2-year study of the critical problems and current and future options regarding communications networks for research computers. The second amendment requires the president to submit a report to Congress on the actions taken to establish an international year of the greenhouse effect.

Both of these amendments seek new information on critical problems of today. The computer network study act is designed to answer critical questions on the needs of computer telecommunications systems over the next 15 years. For example, what are the future requirements for computers in terms of quantity and quality of data transmission, data security, and softwear [sic] compatibility? What equipment must be developed to take advantage of the high transmission rates offered by fiber optic systems?

Both systems designed to handle the special needs of supercomputers and systems designed to meet the needs of smaller research computers will be evaluated. The emphasis is on research computers, but the users of all computers will benefit from this study. Today, we can bank by computer, shop by computer, and send letters by computer. Only a few companies and individuals use these services, but the number is growing and existing capabilities are limited.

In order to cope with the explosion of computer use in the country, we must look to new ways to advance the state-of-the-art in telecommunications -- new ways to increase the speed and quality of the data transmission. Without these improvements, the telecommunication networks face data bottlenecks like those we face every day on our crowded highways.

The private sector is already aware of the need to evaluate and adopt new technologies. One promising technology is the development of fiber optic systems for voice and data transmission. Eventually we will see a system of fiber optic systems being installed nationwide.

America's highways transport people and materials across the country. Federal freeways connect with state highways which connect in turn with county roads and city streets. To transport data and ideas, we will need a telecommunications highway connecting users coast to coast, state to state, city to city. The study required in this amendment will identify the problems and opportunities the nation will face in establishing that highway.

(Bold case mine).

Gee, 1986 is years before Wikipedia seems to mention Gore-could it be that the editable Wikipedia is subject to political manipulation? Naaaah!

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okie wrote:

I looked up Gore's quote, and apparently he said ""I took the initiative in creating the Internet." I don't see much difference between the word, "creating" and "inventing."

And on purpose you fail to see the difference in "taking the intiative" in doing something and doing it entirely yourself.

Suppose I am working in a factory and up to the shipping dock comes a large tractor trailer filled with heavy, heavy barrels of material for my company. I grab a hand truck, unload a few barrels, and when a co-worker comes by I tell HIM to get pick up a hand truck and help. Then another. Then another. Eight workers besides myself take part, and the truck gets unloaded.

Do I have the right to claim that I unloaded the truck by myself? No, I clearly cannot, other people helped greatly.

However, do I have the right to claim I took the initiative in unloading the truck? I certainly do. I got the process started. Unless I did that, or somebody else comes along and did the same thing I did, the truck never gets unloaded.

When it comes to unloading trucks, the guy who grabs the hand truck and recruits other workers to help him is taking the intiative in getting it done. When it comes to getting a construction project erected, or a park constructed, or a network created, the fellow who get the FUNDS provided is the one who took the initiative in getting it done. Gore's bills did just that-provided the funds to get the internet done.

Just don't hold your breath waiting for Okie and the other conservatives to admit it.

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Al Gore.... Laughing

..... Al Gore ..... Laughing

... it's funny just to say his name .... Al Gore invented the Internet ..... Laughing

!!!!!!

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I'll get you for that one, CJ. Very Happy

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kelticwizard wrote:

okie wrote:
I looked up Gore's quote, and apparently he said ""I took the initiative in creating the Internet." I don't see much difference between the word, "creating" and "inventing."

And on purpose you fail to see the difference in "taking the intiative" in doing something and doing it entirely yourself.

Your explanation reminds me of how many global warmers does it take to change a light bulb, keltic? The answer is 100. One to take the initiative and hold the bulb while the other 99 turns the ladder that the one guy is standing on.

I did enjoy your explanation, keltic. Thanks for the humor. And I'm glad we have Al Gore around to provide some interest and humor as well.

By the way, in case you feel compelled to explain it again, I do understand it. Gore was probably misunderstood in this regard. I already knew that before your explanation, but I think it is humorous anyway, because he really did imply more credit than I think he deserves. And the point remains that Gore is wasting a alot of energy flying around the world with his agenda.

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okie wrote:

Your explanation reminds me of how many global warmers does it take to change a light bulb, keltic? The answer is 100. One to take the initiative and hold the bulb while the other 99 turns the ladder that the one guy is standing on.

Good one! Man, you just crack me up. Where do you get all those?

okie wrote:

By the way, in case you feel compelled to explain it again, I do understand it. Gore was probably misunderstood in this regard. I already knew that before your explanation, but I think it is humorous anyway, because he really did imply more credit than I think he deserves.

And yet, strangely, you provide no specifics whatsoever to back up that conclusion. Could it be that you don't know any?

To those of you who believe that the internet as we know it was in place back in the early eighties, let me ask a question: When was the first search engine developed?

The answer is 1990, when the Archie search engine was developed by students at Montreal's McGill University. And even that was just for local servers, it never got onto the big network until years later.

As we all know, search functions had been in the computing world for a long time, for use in such things as word processors. What took them so long to get onto the internet-early nineties?

What took them so long was not the inability to write a search function, it was that there was no unified web to search ON. All this hooey that the internet was up and functioning since the early eighties is a bunch of nonsense. The internet as the main network, which all the various other networks tied into and through which all these websites and pages were accessible through one connection-one phone call, in most cases-had yet to happen.

It was only when Al Gore introduced his bill in 1986 to fund the commission to plan this network, and Gore's later bill to put that commission's recommendations into action, that this great network was established. Then, and only then, was there a network for the search engines to actually search on.

Before all this, we had scientists on their little separate network, universities on their little networks, etc etc. Back on the consumer side, computer owners were still maintaining lists of phone numbers to call different Bulletin Boards-call one BB, browse it and then hang up and call the next BB, browse it and then hang up and call the third BB, browse and then hang up, etc etc etc.

Or else pay Compuserve or AOL $50 a month to access their website. Not a network, just a great big closed website with lots of pages on it.

That is where we were before Gore got together with the computer scientists and got the network funded, planned and built. They took a care of the planning and building part, Gore took care of the funding part-or rather his bills got Congress to take care of the funding part. And getting the funding constitutes taking the initiative in getting something done. Unless the funding gets taken care of, there could be no plannning or building.

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http://www.markdroberts.com/images/Love-Story-3.jpg

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Off Topic, CJ. Very Happy

But just to clear that up, Gore worked for several years for the Nashville Teneseean newspaper. In an interview with author Erich Segal, that paper misreported, (Gore was not the reporter), that Segal said the Oliver Barret character was based on Gore.

Gore told a reporter for Time magazine that the Teneseean once reported that he was the model, which it did.

The New york Times asked Segal, who said that character Oliver Barret himself was based on Gore's college roomate, Tommy Lee Jones, and that Oliver Barret's family was based on Gore's family.

All of which has nothing to do with the fact that after he got out of Harvard, Gore eventually went to the Senate where he introduced the bill to establish the commission which planned the internet, and later introduced the bill to put that plan into action, which resulted in the creation of the internet as we know it.

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Ya wanna buy some land in sunny Florida?

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(it's freakin' hilarious when liberals not only rewrite history to meet the needs of their agenda - but then they act like they really believe it).

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Nope, think I'll just enjoy this nice, breezy 10° F weather we're enjoying here in the Nutmeg State.

Al Gore, Erich Segal and Tommy Lee Jones were at Harvard at the same time. And Gore made it clear in the interview with Time magazine that he said his old newspaper reported it, not that he himself knew it.

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What I think is amazing is the political jui-jitsu the conservatives got away with regarding Gore and the internet.

Gore goes ahead and introduces the bill to establish the commission to plan the large network which all the other networks could tie into, then after their report is made he introduces a second bill to put the plan into action. The result of these two bills is the internet as we know it. That's fact.

Yet the Republicans somehow turn this around so it becomes something people hold against Gore. Political jui-jitsu-the art of turning your opponent's strength against him. The Republicans are a master at it.

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kelticwizard wrote:

Thomas wrote:
Gore's "High Performance Computing and Communication Act" was passed in 1991 -- pretty late in the formation of the internet. Wikipedia agrees with my recollection of the timeline.

Thomas please note this speech Gore made on the floor of the Senate in 1986-for a bill he had already introduced. Notice how the bill funds the research for this network and the supercomputers necessary to establish it:

A bill does not work when its sponsor first promotes it on the Senate floor. It works if and when it's enacted into law, causing the government to spend money money. In the case of the Gore bill, this happened 1991, not 1986.

Keltic Wizard wrote:

Gee, 1986 is years before Wikipedia seems to mention Gore-could it be that the editable Wikipedia is subject to political manipulation? Naaaah!

When Wikipedia mentions Gore is irrelevant. However, it is relevant that even 1986 is three years after the Pentagon shut down the civilian part of ARPAnet and the National Science Foundation started up NSFnet, its research network. Even your timeline does not support your account of Gore's influence under the laws of cause and effect.

To be clear: I'm not disputing that the federal government helped in the expansion of the internet. I'm not disputing that Gore deserves some of the credit for the government's helpful intervention. What I am disputing is how much influence you ascribe to Gore. I think you're grossly exaggerating this influence.

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It would be like Ted Nugent saying he invented camo.

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Gore Announces S.O.S.

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