The Internet as DIY connectivity for people and things

The Internet is exciting and has been transformational in many ways.  But to fully understand why it has been so it is necessary to revisit "communications" theory and recognize that the Internet is a sharp departure from the idea that speech, AKA communicating, is something inside channels. That's the old paradigm.  With the Internet as the new paradigm the meaning, and the value, is entirely outside the channel.

In this talk we look at how the concept underlying the Internet was discovered as we learned how to interconnect computers using any available means without depending on network providers. Without this dependency we were able to concentrate on the task at hand rather than the third parties along the path. This has strong implications as we look at connectivity as a resource. We no longer need to pass messages using a different infrastructure and protocol for each application.

To fully realize the opportunity of the Internet (and connected things) what's needed is borderless connectivity without gatekeepers in the path. We need understand the history of the Internet as DIY from the edge. We can get "more Internet" or, more to the point, create opportunity by funding the facilities we use in much the same way we fund common infrastructure such as sidewalks and roads

Speaker: Bob Frankston