On Tue, 17 Oct 2006 12:06:47 -0400, Andrew Russell wrote
On Oct 17, 2006, at 10:51 AM, Kevin Guidry wrote:
But it just seems to me that TCP/IP as the underlying protocol of the majority of the Internet is a historical accident.
I disagree. Choices and controversies - not accidents - created the TCP/IP Internet that we use today. The work of scholars such as Janet Abbate and Neil Randall (as well as my own work, which is why I'm sensitive on this point :-) describe these choices and controversies in great detail. Of course the Internet (like all things) changes over time, and I agree with those who say that the definitions of the Internet vary according to the perspectives and interests of those who wish to define it.
Andy Russell History of Science and Technology Johns Hopkins University _______________________________________________ The air-l@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/
-- Distributed System Laboratory (http://dslab.ee.ncku.edu.tw) Department of Electrical Engineering National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan, R.O.C.