Artificial intelligence researcher Peter E. Hart remembers a time when computer networking was an arcane subject that non-users were still trying to wrap their minds around. In an anecdote sent to The New York Times, he recounts being subjected to an audit of his ARPAnet-linked AI center’s incoming bits — including questions about whether any of the 2.5 billion packets arrived with “corrosion or tarnish.” It’s a tiny, but excellent, piece of early internet history.
‘Did all the packets arrive in good condition?’
is a senior tech and policy editor focused on online platforms and free expression. Adi has covered virtual and augmented reality, the history of computing, and more for The Verge since 2011.
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