Woohoo! My 1st post!
The most interesting part of our homework to me was the video: History of the Internet.
As a History major, it is always fascinating to me to see how world events shape innovation and change. I was unaware that it was the launching of Sputnik that drove the Defense Department to launch DARPA or that the Cuban Missile Crisis spurred the need to figure out how to decentralize the network. So often in history it is National security interests that spur governments to pour money into research areas or projects and National Pride that inspires scientists to band together for innovation. In the modern age, the assembly line, the atom bomb, the airplane, and the race to the moon are just a few examples of the “war-machine” advancing technologies. And now I can add the internet to that list.
The other point I found interesting was that different needs from different global sectors drove the research necessary to make the internet a reality. Commercial, Scientific, and Military communities and interests worked together to create something that changed the world, not just the commercial, military, and scientific worlds, but the World. Three segments of the population, working toward their own ends, for their own purposes, fundamentally changed how the world works in every aspect of society.
The video made me wonder if the internet would have come about on its own at the same rate if there hadn’t been a Sputnik or missiles in Cuba. How much do security interests and National pride play in technological developments? How much should they play? And is there a better way?
As for three topics of research….well, that’s a tough one as my interests are varied, but here’s what I’ve come up with: Quilting, the Washington Nationals, and the Magna Carta.