Humans are inherently curious. This doesn't mean you have to be a PhD candidate in biophysics to be interested in finding answers. Our curiosity brings ideas which can often turn into bigger ones if we allow them to flourish.
The earliest ideas for a computer network intended to allow general communications among computer users was formulated by a dude named Joseph Licklider who was a computer scientist. He had this idea in the early 1960s he called it the “Intergalactic Computer Network”.
By the late 1960s, the U.S. Department of Defense hired Licklider to lead the Behavioural Science Command and Control initiative at the Advanced Research Projects Agency or Arpa. He convinced some influential people on the project that his idea of building a network of connected computer had some merit. That was the creation of the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network or the Arpanet.
The Arpanet becomes the Internet
Now we can click here, tweet there and spend far too much time complaining that it’s just not this enough or that enough. As Louis CK says, everything is awesome and nobody’s happy. We are tripping over technological breakthroughs every day and we still complain. I loaded a software upgrade yesterday and was complaining how slow it was within about two minutes. Case rested.
What now seems like a lifetime ago, back in 2007, Wired co-founder Kevin Kelly did a review of the first 5,000 days of the Internet as we know it. So add another 1,000 or so since then and see if our predictions can possibly keep up with advancements and reality. Feel free to make some predictions and we’ll see if you’re right in another couple thousand days.
knealemann
visual credit: TED
Other TEDTalks by Kevin Kelly.
Also published on Social Media Today
Showing posts with label arpanet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label arpanet. Show all posts
February 13, 2011
November 19, 2010
Buying Social Media
And then we got greedy
Forty years ago, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency developed the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network or the Arpanet - the precursor to the Internet. And that brief blip in our evolution shrunk the world.
"We did radio last fall and it didn’t work."
Four decades later and there is no shortage of chatter about how the online space will do this and won’t do that. And many understand this activity is an augmentation of communication channels which will continue to evolve. The important ingredient is that you need time to decipher how it all applies to your situation.
“We bought television this time, we're sure it will help revenue."
Even large companies with global footprints are gingerly stick handling the social web to engage with customers and prospects while giving their organizations the best image possible. We are all bumping into each other and trying things. We will improve and advance but there is no end game.
There are some brazen advocates of diving in the digital deep end and going for it while others hope to mitigate the conversation by simply not participating in it.
I read a tweet the other day that claimed "every" large brand is in the social channels. I'm not sure who has the massive "every company on the planet" database but even if that were true (it is not), would they use the channels the same?
“We do direct mail. We did it last year. It seemed to work.”
Many still view social media as advertising channels that we can buy like we can with mainstream channels which is shortsighted. There are no quick fixes in any medium.
It happens more often than you may suspect that someone will utter the naive phrase “we’re gonna try it” in relation to picking a medium. We will make mistakes, that's the human thing we must endure. Experimentation is important but not to be confused with taking a blind stab in the dark.
"Our customers aren't on Facebook."
My suggestion is to identify expectations and commitment before taking any choices out for a test drive. Mainstream channels are alive and well and social media are simply opportunities to enhance the effort. But organizations are not campaigns.
Can we buy social media?
knealemann | email
Join me for Movember.
image credit: thisyear
"We did radio last fall and it didn’t work."
Four decades later and there is no shortage of chatter about how the online space will do this and won’t do that. And many understand this activity is an augmentation of communication channels which will continue to evolve. The important ingredient is that you need time to decipher how it all applies to your situation.
“We bought television this time, we're sure it will help revenue."
Even large companies with global footprints are gingerly stick handling the social web to engage with customers and prospects while giving their organizations the best image possible. We are all bumping into each other and trying things. We will improve and advance but there is no end game.
There are some brazen advocates of diving in the digital deep end and going for it while others hope to mitigate the conversation by simply not participating in it.
I read a tweet the other day that claimed "every" large brand is in the social channels. I'm not sure who has the massive "every company on the planet" database but even if that were true (it is not), would they use the channels the same?
“We do direct mail. We did it last year. It seemed to work.”
Many still view social media as advertising channels that we can buy like we can with mainstream channels which is shortsighted. There are no quick fixes in any medium.
It happens more often than you may suspect that someone will utter the naive phrase “we’re gonna try it” in relation to picking a medium. We will make mistakes, that's the human thing we must endure. Experimentation is important but not to be confused with taking a blind stab in the dark.
"Our customers aren't on Facebook."
My suggestion is to identify expectations and commitment before taking any choices out for a test drive. Mainstream channels are alive and well and social media are simply opportunities to enhance the effort. But organizations are not campaigns.
Can we buy social media?
knealemann | email
Join me for Movember.
image credit: thisyear
April 8, 2010
Integration Happens Every Day
The Power of HorsesToday’s automobile stems from a steam powered vehicle introduced by Ferdinand Verbiest who was member of a Jesuit mission in China in 1672.
There is currently a car for every eleven people on the planet, We burn 600 million gallons of fuel each year.
Print and Save
Johannes Gutenberg is credited with introducing the printing press in 1439.
Despite the rabid move to online and mobile, we have somehow quintupled our paper consumption since attempting to create a paperless society.
Play The Hits
Despite numerous disputes over many decades, Guglielmo Marconi was credited with introducing a radio telegraph system in 1896. Thomas Edison, David E. Hughes and Nikola Tesla were influential as well.
There are now more than 45,000 commercial radio stations in the world covering ever format imaginable. Satellite radio has opened the floodgates wide enough to feature such niche programming choices as uncensored comedy, extreme sports and polka.
Laptops and Memory Sticks
In 1968, Douglas Englebart hosted what was later called The Mother of All Demos as he outlined how individuals were going to be able to create and transmit content through word processing, hypertext and video conferencing technologies.
Since it was introduced last weekend, Apple sold close to a million units of their latest portable device. News stories on the iPad flooded both the blogosphere and traditional news agencies as if they had just invented the wheel.
A Series of Tubes
In 1958, the United States government developed the Advanced Research Projects Agency in response to their then Cold War adversary the Soviet Union’s space program. The ARPAnet gave the U.S. a technological edge in electronic intelligence.
Now more than 1.7 Billion people in the world have Internet access and over 76% of North Americans are online.
All That You Do
Forty years ago, a word was created to describe the creative way in which companies and individuals promote, sell and communicate their products and services while understanding the needs and desires of a target audience.
The word Marketing was an American invention and is the same translated in to any other language. Today it represents every aspect of business and culture and is no longer limited to advertising or promotion.
Did You Get My Voicemail?
Originated from the Greek term “far voice”, the telephone was another controversial invention because many had their hand in its early progress. Canadian Alexander Graham Bell, American Thomas Edison and various other inventors around world had their part in developing this historic gadget.
And just this week, more text messages were sent via cellar telephone than there are people walking the earth.
Watch Your Thumbs!
Dating back as far as 1973, messages were transmitted electronically through an intricate encoded system wired through a series of computer servers all over the United States.
And if you are running a company, email is just a part of everyday life today.
Human Networking
Thirty years ago, there was no Facebook or LinkedIn, no one was tweeting or friending and the idea that you would actually meet a complete stranger you had only previously met online was laughable.
The chance to connect with people from every possible crevice of the world who share similar ideas and work remotely on projects and build businesses through the social web was an old idea that has become a new buzz.
Acceptance and Belief
All too often our lens is pointed at the advancements in our own personal lives. Those which were invented before we were born seem to be accepted without question.
None of these and thousands of other inventions matter without two important elements – our ability to create and share.
Perhaps before discarding something new, we should give it a little time to see if it’s worth keeping?
@knealemann
strategy. marketing. social media.
photo credits: apple
May 18, 2009
New Ain’t New No More
Archeologists found the earliest evidence of dentist drills dating back 9,000 years in Pakistan. These primitive hand drills were the earliest found implements which performed cavity repair. Dentists now employ motorized drills that spin at half a million RPM and can solve virtually any dental issue.The cute portable music playing device that revolutionized music consumption was first introduced in 1997. The iPod is one of the most influential inventions in decades. Sony owned the portable cassette market, Apple is the overwhelming leader in mp3 players.
Beer was first invented in the 6th millennium BC in Egypt and Mesopotamia. Today, beer is a $300 Billion a year industry and it is consumed in almost every country on earth.
In the 1960’s, computers were behemoth mechanical creatures that filled rooms to perform basic mathematical problems. The computer installed on the Saturn V rocket which propelled the crew toward the first moon landing was slower than the later model known as the 286. The portable computer was first mass produced in the 1980’s. Today it is a mind that can carry out complex audio and visual tasks simultaneously.An instrument we use every day was named after the Latin term fura or pitchfork. Forks have been used since 2nd century Rome.
In the last decade, scientists all over the world have finally mapped the human genome - the entire gene pool of human makeup.
As close as historians can guess, the first wheelbarrow dates back to around 400BC in ancient Greece. Medieval Europe and China have had their stake in its evolution. It is almost inconceivable that a home owner would not own one today.
What we now know as the Internet was first conceived in the mid 1950’s as a way for U.S. government officials to share and send information over long distances. It was known as the Arpanet. Although near impossible to predict, in 2009 there are hundreds of millions of websites, social media communities and you can do or find anything you can possibly fathom, online.
As soon as something is invented, creative minds get to work on improving it. Once we are introduced to something new in our lives, we somehow seem to find a need for it or seamlessly adapt to its existence.
Got any ideas?
@knealemann
photo credits:
thomasedison.com | kscience.co.uk | wikimedia.org | apple.com
February 18, 2009
From Cave Walls to FriendFeed
How old is social media?
At the core of social networking is connection. It has been going on for about the last 100,000 years or so.
People used to write stories about their lives through pictures on cave walls.
Juan Pablo Bonet first introduced a new way of communication for the deaf and today millions converse through sign language.
Can you hear me now?
In 1836, Samuel Morse and Alfred Vail developed an electronic telegraph machine that sent a series of electric currents which made markings on tape. An alphabet was devised and long distance two-way communication was made possible with basic equipment.
Ancient Greece is the place where the earliest form of shorthand was documented. As early as 400BC, shortened versions of full words were carved on to marble using mostly vowels with slight variations to indicate consonants.
Rocket ships and email
In the late fifties during the height of the Cold War, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik. This event caused the Americans to quickly get to work on the Advanced Research Projects Agency or ARPA which later became ARPA Network or ARPANET. Today, you and I know it as The Internet.
Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press in the mid 1400’s. His creation revolutionized communication. A&E named him the most influential person of the 20th century.
Shawn Fanning turned the music industry on its head with his invention of computer code and later Napster which allowed people to electronically share songs.
What does all of this have to do with Social Media?
In short, everything.
This is not about LinkedIn or Facebook, MySpace or Bebo, Twitter or FriendFeed.
Morse code, the Internet, hieroglyphs, the printing press, mp3s, shorthand and many other magnificent inventions have immeasurably helped us better connect with each other while sharing stories, knowledge and experiences.
But can any of this ever replace in-person interaction?
km
At the core of social networking is connection. It has been going on for about the last 100,000 years or so.
People used to write stories about their lives through pictures on cave walls.
Juan Pablo Bonet first introduced a new way of communication for the deaf and today millions converse through sign language.
Can you hear me now?
In 1836, Samuel Morse and Alfred Vail developed an electronic telegraph machine that sent a series of electric currents which made markings on tape. An alphabet was devised and long distance two-way communication was made possible with basic equipment.
Ancient Greece is the place where the earliest form of shorthand was documented. As early as 400BC, shortened versions of full words were carved on to marble using mostly vowels with slight variations to indicate consonants.
Rocket ships and email
In the late fifties during the height of the Cold War, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik. This event caused the Americans to quickly get to work on the Advanced Research Projects Agency or ARPA which later became ARPA Network or ARPANET. Today, you and I know it as The Internet.
Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press in the mid 1400’s. His creation revolutionized communication. A&E named him the most influential person of the 20th century.
Shawn Fanning turned the music industry on its head with his invention of computer code and later Napster which allowed people to electronically share songs.
What does all of this have to do with Social Media?
In short, everything.
This is not about LinkedIn or Facebook, MySpace or Bebo, Twitter or FriendFeed.
Morse code, the Internet, hieroglyphs, the printing press, mp3s, shorthand and many other magnificent inventions have immeasurably helped us better connect with each other while sharing stories, knowledge and experiences.
But can any of this ever replace in-person interaction?
km
