Lordy, Lordy, the Internet's Forty

On October 29, 1969, at 10:30 PM, a connection was established on the Arpanet network between computers at UCLA and Stanford. And thus, basically, the internet was born. It wasn't given that name till several years later, and obviously much has changed, but it can basically traced back to a transmittal forty years ago today.

And what was the message transmitted at that epochal moment? "Lo." It was supposed to be "login," but the system crashed after only the first two letters were sent. Some things never change.

So should we be celebrating or mourning this fortieth anniversary? Mostly celebrating, I would think. After all, I'm using the internet right now, and its ability to gather information and connect people has obviously been hugely transformational.

And it has not -- yet -- killed off the book, not even the quaint variety with a physical cover and pages. The death of that archaic relic has been proclaimed many times before, and it has always survived. I can't help but think that its survival will continue.

And please feel free to spread my thoughts throughout the internet.