Uploaded April 2020 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
(Note, the above video was filmed April 16th, 2015 at the Ethernet Tech Summit. The description is from the SV Tech History Committee post)
What can we learn from the origins, emergence, and explosion of the now omnipresent Internet? Internet pioneer (and ARPANET creator) Larry Roberts explores how the Internet came about, how it reached its present state, and where it is heading in the future. This interview covers both historical lessons and future trends.
This history session went very well with a smooth flow between Geoff Thompson and Larry. Glad we could give credit to Larry as the primary creator of the X.25 protocol and his leading role in commercializing Packet Switched Public Data Networks at Telenet (later sold to GTE). Telenet was way ahead of AT&T, Sprint and other N.A. X.25 PSPDN carriers. In the mid to late 1970s, his version of the X.25 protocol was accepted by what is now called BT (British Post Office then) and Orange (Transpac then). It was later enhanced by ANSI X3S37 and CCITT SG XVII WP2 (which I participated in from 1978-1985).
— X.25 was the only commercial and international public data network from 1976 to 1993 when the Internet went public and took over (see Larry’s comments below)! Even ISDN used X.25 on both the B and D channels (Basic Rate access) for packet switching.
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Larry’s comments:
Alan, What can I say? Your summary is very valuable as virtually no-one has realized that the developed world had a more reliable standardized packet service for almost 2 decades before the Internet. As to the fireside chat, it went great as Geoff fed new questions to me whenever I stopped. It worked very well.
Another thought: The time slot of 1 hour for this fireside chat was a huge difference from a prepared speech and was a serious benefit in enabling us to cover a large amount of material over a long period of time (several decades).
Thanks,
Larry
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Thanks also to Paul Wesling for being the cameraman and videographer.
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Read more at ithistory.org/blog/tribute-larry-roberts-under-appreciated-internet-and-packet-switching-pioneer
Alan Weissberger
(Note, the above video was filmed April 16th, 2015 at the Ethernet Tech Summit. The description is from the SV Tech History Committee post)
What can we learn from the origins, emergence, and explosion of the now omnipresent Internet? Internet pioneer (and ARPANET creator) Larry Roberts explores how the Internet came about, how it reached its present state, and where it is heading in the future. This interview covers both historical lessons and future trends.
This history session went very well with a smooth flow between Geoff Thompson and Larry. Glad we could give credit to Larry as the primary creator of the X.25 protocol and his leading role in commercializing Packet Switched Public Data Networks at Telenet (later sold to GTE). Telenet was way ahead of AT&T, Sprint and other N.A. X.25 PSPDN carriers. In the mid to late 1970s, his version of the X.25 protocol was accepted by what is now called BT (British Post Office then) and Orange (Transpac then). It was later enhanced by ANSI X3S37 and CCITT SG XVII WP2 (which I participated in from 1978-1985).
— X.25 was the only commercial and international public data network from 1976 to 1993 when the Internet went public and took over (see Larry’s comments below)! Even ISDN used X.25 on both the B and D channels (Basic Rate access) for packet switching.
……………………………………………………………………………..
Larry’s comments:
Alan, What can I say? Your summary is very valuable as virtually no-one has realized that the developed world had a more reliable standardized packet service for almost 2 decades before the Internet. As to the fireside chat, it went great as Geoff fed new questions to me whenever I stopped. It worked very well.
Another thought: The time slot of 1 hour for this fireside chat was a huge difference from a prepared speech and was a serious benefit in enabling us to cover a large amount of material over a long period of time (several decades).
Thanks,
Larry
……………………………………………………………………………………
Thanks also to Paul Wesling for being the cameraman and videographer.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Read more at ithistory.org/blog/tribute-larry-roberts-under-appreciated-internet-and-packet-switching-pioneer
Alan Weissberger
