Re: [Vo]:National Security and Population Structure
On Tue, Dec 27, 2011 at 2:13 PM, James Bowery jabow...@gmail.com wrote: My particular part in this effort was that I was to prototype a mass-marketable version of the PLATO network, which I did circa 1980. I won't go into the details of that network except to say that the contribution it would have made to national security would have been to connect smart rural homesteads with information, education and business resources that would contribute to their self-sufficiency. Yes, I know, this is starting to be realized today, but a lot of water has passed under the bridge since 1980, no? SNIP The reason you never heard of these things is that they were in direct conflict with Wall Street's interests and Wall Street made no secret of its hatred of Bill's vision. I succeeded in prototyping the mass market PLATO system and it was quashed by a mutinous middle management more identified with Wall Street than the crazy old koot in the executive suite. Unlike many of Bill's other technology directions in support of decentralized population structure, the PLATO system was poised to make immediate profits and roll out mass produced Macintosh equivalent network computers for a service that would have cost $40/month in 1980 dollars -- and that includes terminal rental. So it was particularly egregious that this technology was killed for the noble purpose of making America vulnerable to 9/11 type attacks. Hi Jim. I don't know if this is on topic for Vortex. As it happens, at one time, I studied the history of PLATO and what I read and heard wasn't the same as what you just recounted. PLATO was incredibly advanced for its time. But it wasn't Macintosh-like for the most part. There was no mouse and all menus were accessed with key stroke combinations or a very clumsy touch panel. Graphics were slow and 512 x 512. Color was experimental in 1980 if I read it right -- most displays were monochrome. Sound was experimental. And networking outside a small local area required expensive leased telephone lines in those days because there was no internet. Your figure of $40/month per station is unlikely because of the large and expert central staff required to maintain the system and provide user service over the network. What I do find strange and unfortunate is that the wonderful PLATO attention to user requirements, rapid fixing of system flaws and bugs, and it's user-friendly and unique menu structure have not been properly incorporated, even now, in modern systems. An example of that is that in many programs and apps, you can't return to a previous screen conveniently, use of keys and buttons isn't consistent from app to app, you can't get help, you can't always interrupt animations or computations, and you can't get a human to assist you -- all those items were almost taken for granted on the few properly run PLATO systems in the 1970's (for example the medical school PLATO). And nowadays, if you have trouble, you usually end up waiting hours to speak or chat with some Sam or Susie in a third world country who knows little, often provides disastrous advice (reformat your hard drive for example) and rarely helps with the current problem. On the other hand, we have Google and the internet to help us, something barely dreamed of in PLATO days. Bottom line, as technology advances, there is an increasing call for oppression to maintain the centralized population structure, just as there was to create it by moving the boomers out of their small midwestern towns, through universities and into the sterilizing urban environments in which they could not afford childrenhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akVL7QY0S8A -- but the attack on national security was conducted by Wall Street against the traditional American way of life. Any discussion, nowadays, about the threat to national security represented by attacks against centralized symbols like the World Trade Center on 9/11/2001 is utter misdirection. I'm not sure what you're saying here. I am certain that militants would be only too happy to use a dirty bomb, biological or chemical weapons or a crude nuclear bomb to attack the government centers in Washington which are unsafely too close together. They would also love to attack any population center. But surely you're not saying you can do away with cities are you? Not with PLATO like systems? Not with any current technology. Maybe when we have unlimited energy? Anyway, those wanting to read more about PLATO can look at these links. And there was a PLATO reunion recently-- the fiftieth anniversary. Too bad it petered out and Control Data went belly up! David Woolley's web site and an excellent Youtube video panel discussion:http://thinkofit.com/plato/dwplato.htm Brian Dear's PLATO history page: http://platohistory.org/ PLATO at Fifty -- conference program: http://www.computerhistory.org/events/listing/plato-at-50/ The history of PLATO provides another
Re: [Vo]:National Security and Population Structure
On 12/27/2011 07:13 PM, James Bowery wrote: A young Nebraska farmer's son went to war against Germany and came back with code-breaking skills, as well as good DoD contacts. His name was William Norris. He started Control Data Corporation with a young engineer named Seymour Cray and, with 34 people out on Seymour's farm in Wisconsin (only one of whom was a PhD and he was a Jr. programmer) built what is widely regarded as the first supercomputer http://drdobbs.com/184404102-- even as IBM's armies of PhD's and unlimited resources foundered in the effort much to the dismay of IBM's CEO, Thomas Watson, Jr. Somewhere along the line, they hired me. What I learned was that both Bill and Seymour had very strong feelings about the national security implications of an increasingly urbanized population. That's one reason Seymour had his lab out in the north woods of Wisconsin. Bill, as CEO of CDC, had made this allowance for Seymour while keeping CDC HQ in Minneapolis St. Paul (right across from the airport). The reason I signed on with them was the promise that I could fulfill part of Bill's vision for America: National security through dispersed population structure -- both its preservation as an American heritage and its promotion as recovery from the recent urbanization that threatened that heritage. Basically, its virtually impossible to take out a decentralized society -- whether you are a nuclear superpower or an international terrorist organization. My particular part in this effort was that I was to prototype a mass-marketable version of the PLATO network, which I did circa 1980. I won't go into the details of that network except to say that the contribution it would have made to national security would have been to connect smart rural homesteads with information, education and business resources that would contribute to their self-sufficiency. Yes, I know, this is starting to be realized today, but a lot of water has passed under the bridge since 1980, no? The rest of Bill's vision was that these smart homesteads would be energy and food self-sufficient. The reason you never heard of these things is that they were in direct conflict with Wall Street's interests and Wall Street made no secret of its hatred of Bill's vision. I succeeded in prototyping the mass market PLATO system and it was quashed by a mutinous middle management more identified with Wall Street than the crazy old koot in the executive suite. Unlike many of Bill's other technology directions in support of decentralized population structure, the PLATO system was poised to make immediate profits and roll out mass produced Macintosh equivalent network computers for a service that would have cost $40/month in 1980 dollars -- and that includes terminal rental. So it was particularly egregious that this technology was killed for the noble purpose of making America vulnerable to 9/11 type attacks. Bottom line, as technology advances, there is an increasing call for oppression to maintain the centralized population structure, just as there was to create it by moving the boomers out of their small midwestern towns, through universities and into the sterilizing urban environments in which they could not afford childrenhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akVL7QY0S8A -- but the attack on national security was conducted by Wall Street against the traditional American way of life. Any discussion, nowadays, about the threat to national security represented by attacks against centralized symbols like the World Trade Center on 9/11/2001 is utter misdirection. Yeah! Good to hear it, specially when it's coming straight from the horse's mouth, or close enough. Best regards, Mauro
[Vo]:National Security and Population Structure
A young Nebraska farmer's son went to war against Germany and came back with code-breaking skills, as well as good DoD contacts. His name was William Norris. He started Control Data Corporation with a young engineer named Seymour Cray and, with 34 people out on Seymour's farm in Wisconsin (only one of whom was a PhD and he was a Jr. programmer) built what is widely regarded as the first supercomputer http://drdobbs.com/184404102-- even as IBM's armies of PhD's and unlimited resources foundered in the effort much to the dismay of IBM's CEO, Thomas Watson, Jr. Somewhere along the line, they hired me. What I learned was that both Bill and Seymour had very strong feelings about the national security implications of an increasingly urbanized population. That's one reason Seymour had his lab out in the north woods of Wisconsin. Bill, as CEO of CDC, had made this allowance for Seymour while keeping CDC HQ in Minneapolis St. Paul (right across from the airport). The reason I signed on with them was the promise that I could fulfill part of Bill's vision for America: National security through dispersed population structure -- both its preservation as an American heritage and its promotion as recovery from the recent urbanization that threatened that heritage. Basically, its virtually impossible to take out a decentralized society -- whether you are a nuclear superpower or an international terrorist organization. My particular part in this effort was that I was to prototype a mass-marketable version of the PLATO network, which I did circa 1980. I won't go into the details of that network except to say that the contribution it would have made to national security would have been to connect smart rural homesteads with information, education and business resources that would contribute to their self-sufficiency. Yes, I know, this is starting to be realized today, but a lot of water has passed under the bridge since 1980, no? The rest of Bill's vision was that these smart homesteads would be energy and food self-sufficient. The reason you never heard of these things is that they were in direct conflict with Wall Street's interests and Wall Street made no secret of its hatred of Bill's vision. I succeeded in prototyping the mass market PLATO system and it was quashed by a mutinous middle management more identified with Wall Street than the crazy old koot in the executive suite. Unlike many of Bill's other technology directions in support of decentralized population structure, the PLATO system was poised to make immediate profits and roll out mass produced Macintosh equivalent network computers for a service that would have cost $40/month in 1980 dollars -- and that includes terminal rental. So it was particularly egregious that this technology was killed for the noble purpose of making America vulnerable to 9/11 type attacks. Bottom line, as technology advances, there is an increasing call for oppression to maintain the centralized population structure, just as there was to create it by moving the boomers out of their small midwestern towns, through universities and into the sterilizing urban environments in which they could not afford children http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akVL7QY0S8A -- but the attack on national security was conducted by Wall Street against the traditional American way of life. Any discussion, nowadays, about the threat to national security represented by attacks against centralized symbols like the World Trade Center on 9/11/2001 is utter misdirection.
