[Air-l] civil defense origins of the internet

[Barry Wellman]

At this time of civil defense crisis in the US, it is interesting to
recall that an important precursor of the Internet was the computerized
conferencing system that Murray Turoff and others developed in the early
1970s (and perhaps earlier) for the US civil defense system. The idea was
to foster coordination among dispersed people and groups. This
path-breaking system allowed for both email-like messages and easy setup
of computerized conferences. 

The system became civilianized as EIES in the 1970s as Murray became a
prof at New Jersey Institute of Technology (and still is). I remember
being an early, delighted user of it in the mid-1970s, and was a member of
a National Science Foundation funded field trial of using EIES to foster
scholarly community. One fun feature: It was easy to use pseudonyms
whenever you wanted. I was "Alvey Singer" as an _Annie Hall_ fan.

Of course, the technology wasn't the same then. Everything ran off a
single server in New Jersey, and we used an 800 number to dial-in. Speed
was 110 bits per second (which is a lot different than 110K). It came over
a printing modem. Whenever I got a message, I knew I had time to go get a
cup of coffee, sometimes two. Text only of course. But EIES ran, it was
fun, and it was useful. [See Roxanne Hiltz and Murray Turoff's _The
Network Nation_ for a fuller account: I'm proud that they named their book
after my even-earlier "Network City" article.]

Now things have come full circle. I assume US Civil Defense folks are
using similar systems today, and certainly we all have relied on the
Internet to convey thoughts, argue positions, and obtain information.

 Barry
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  Barry Wellman        Professor of Sociology       NetLab Director
  wellman at chass.utoronto.ca   http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman
  
  Centre for Urban & Community Studies        University of Toronto
  455 Spadina Avenue   Toronto Canada M5S 2G8   fax:+1-416-978-7162
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