A few days ago I'd discovered Paul Baran's work at RAND, not only in laying out the technical case and specification for what became the Internet (Baran is the father of packet-switched networks),...
A few days ago I'd discovered Paul Baran's work at RAND, not only in laying out the technical case and specification for what became the Internet (Baran is the father of packet-switched networks), but concerning the second-order implications, including social and privicy implications, of the technology. This during the 1960s, so, the next time someone asks you rhetorically "but who could have forseen the negative side of this", you can answer: "Paul Baran, the man who invented it, over fifty years ago".
And yes, some engineers are highly cognisant of the societal implications of their work.
I'd been both delighted to find Baran's work and frustrated that some items were missing, so I wrote RAND asking if they might possibly add the others. I was told "yes", though no schedule was given so I hoped it might appear in a few months.
I'm delighted, and hope others will also appreciate these foundational and insightful works.
The title listing, below, shows the breadth of Baran's thinking. His work on second-order and negative effects is also continued by one of the organisations he went on to found, the Institute for the Future, which has weighed in on the fake news / propaganda issue recently. Baran himself died in 2011.
My thanks to RAND.
And a reminder that sometimes you can get what you want by asking nicely.
Titles
LSI: The Basic Module for New Communication Networks 1968
Binary Coded Gun Barrels to Discourage Illegal Use of Small Arms 1968
On the Engineer's Responsibility in Protecting Privacy 1968
A Closed Circuit TV System for the Visually Handicapped 1968
Communication Policy Issues for the Coming Computer Utility. 1968
On the Future Computer Era: Modification of the American Character and the Role of the Engineer, or, A Little Caution in the Haste to Number 1968
Some Changes in Information Technology Affecting Marketing in the Year 2000 1968
The Coming Computer Utility -- Laissez-Faire, Licensing, or Regulation? 1967
Some Caveats on the Contribution of Technology to Law Enforcement 1967
Remarks on the Question of Privacy Raised by the Automation of Mental Health Records 1967
Some Remarks on Digital Distributed Communications Networks 1967
Urban Node in the Information Network 1967
A Briefing on the Distributed Adaptive Message-Block Network 1965
On Distributed Communications: V. History, Alternative Approaches, and Comparisons 1964
On Distributed Communications: I. Introduction to Distributed Communications Networks 1964
On Distributed Communications: IV. Priority, Precedence, and Overload 1964
On Distributed Communications: II. Digital Simulation of Hot-Potato Routing in a Broadband Distributed Communications Network 1964
On Distributed Communications: X. Cost Estimate 1964
On Distributed Communications: VII. Tentative Engineering Specifications and Preliminary Design for a High-Data-Rate Distributed Network Switching Node 1964
On Distributed Communications: VIII. The Multiplexing Station 1964
On Distributed Communications: VI. Mini-Cost Microwave 1964
On Distributed Communications: Summary Overview 1964
On Distributed Communications:: IX. Security, Secrecy, and Tamper-Free Considerations 1964
On Distributed Communications Networks 1962
Coverage Estimates of FM, TV and Power Facilities Useful in a Broadband Distributed Network 1962
A Digital Simulation of an Aided Adaptive Character Reading Machine 1960
An Aided Adaptive Character Reader for Machine Translation of Languages 1960
On a Distributed Command and Control System Configuration 1960
Reliable Digital Communications Systems Using Unreliable Network Repeater Nodes 1960
A few days ago I'd discovered Paul Baran's work at RAND, not only in laying out the technical case and specification for what became the Internet (Baran is the father of packet-switched networks), but concerning the second-order implications, including social and privicy implications, of the technology. This during the 1960s, so, the next time someone asks you rhetorically "but who could have forseen the negative side of this", you can answer: "Paul Baran, the man who invented it, over fifty years ago".
And yes, some engineers are highly cognisant of the societal implications of their work.
I'd been both delighted to find Baran's work and frustrated that some items were missing, so I wrote RAND asking if they might possibly add the others. I was told "yes", though no schedule was given so I hoped it might appear in a few months.
It was a few days.
Paul Baran's entire catalogue of RAND publications available as PDFs for free download.
I'm delighted, and hope others will also appreciate these foundational and insightful works.
The title listing, below, shows the breadth of Baran's thinking. His work on second-order and negative effects is also continued by one of the organisations he went on to found, the Institute for the Future, which has weighed in on the fake news / propaganda issue recently. Baran himself died in 2011.
My thanks to RAND.
And a reminder that sometimes you can get what you want by asking nicely.
Titles