Who Really Invented the Internet?
25th July 2012
Gordon Crovitz speaks out.
It’s an urban legend that the government launched the Internet. The myth is that the Pentagon created the Internet to keep its communications lines up even in a nuclear strike. The truth is a more interesting story about how innovation happens—and about how hard it is to build successful technology companies even once the government gets out of the way.
Responsible Opposing Viewpoint: here.
Moral: Don’t believe everything you read.
July 25th, 2012 at 05:10
The story of Xerox and its failure to recognize what it had is legendary.
I’m reminded of Alexander Bell, who approached Western Union about selling them the patents for the telephone; Western Union politely declined, saying that they saw no practical application for the device.
Lost in the article is the basic fact, however, that the president was making and which has been glossed: Steve Jobs didn’t invent that. He successfully took ideas that someone else invented and brought them to market.
He didn’t do it alone. No one ever does.