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SUMMARY:The Once and Future Internet - Jon Crowcroft\, Computer Lab
DTSTART:20140703T130000Z
DTEND:20140703T140000Z
UID:TALK53171@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Microsoft Research Cambridge Talks Admins
DESCRIPTION:“The Once and Future Internet\,” with apologies to T. H. W
 hite. In this talk\, I will describe the past and anticipated future of th
 e technology of the Internet\, briefly structuring the seminar around the 
 themes inspired by the volumes of the book\, The Once and Future King\, by
  T. H. White.\n\nIn the beginning\, we were all learning about computer co
 mmunications networks with little guidance. There were many parallel attem
 pts to design and build what became packet switched networks. A bit like M
 ort learning lessons (remember Art in the Disney film\, The Sword in the S
 tone) from many animals on how to fly\, swim\, etc\, we had to learn how t
 o do naming\, addressing\, routing\, reliability and performance managemen
 t.\n\nIn the end\, the winner who pulled the sword out of the stone\, so t
 o speak\, was the Internet\, perhaps because we just had more funding for 
 longer and especially since it was US based.\n\nHaving constructed the Int
 ernet as a prototype\, in 1992\, Tim Berners-Lee showed up with the World 
 Wide Web\, almost complete from day 1 as a much nicer way for everyday fol
 k to use the network\, than the rather odd applications and user interface
 s that we had previously devised. Almost immediately (as with Arthur's kin
 gdom described in The Queen of Air and Darkness aka The Witch in the Wood)
  bad people started to show up on the network. We had made little provisio
 n for security.\n\nIt seems that with all the best intentions\, users are 
 (perhaps like Lancelot\, in The Ill-Made Knight) their own worst enemies. 
 Most people fall for scams\, phishing\, and so on. Some may wonder what th
 e Holy Grail of the Internet was at this point\, and I will offer some pos
 sible candidates\, while not claiming to be any kind of Galahad.\n\nThe en
 d of the Internet is frequently foretold—much as the end of Arthur's Rou
 nd Table—the ideals espoused by early (and even practised in the mid-per
 iod of the Internet in its past 30 years) seem to be evaporating\, like Th
 e Candle in the Wind.\n\nHowever\, some of the principles for the design o
 f the network are just that: principles. As in The Book of Merlin\, the en
 gineering design rules handed down from early Internet seem likely to last
  in future incantations. In particular\, the end-to-end argument appears t
 o continue to inform many design discussions\, and I'll finish some observ
 ations on its continued applicability.\n
LOCATION:Main Auditorium\, Microsoft Research Ltd\, 21 Station Road\, Camb
 ridge\, CB1 2FB
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