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From: eugene@ames.UUCP (Eugene Miya)
Newsgroups: net.news
Subject: Re: how ubiquitous is Usenet?
Message-ID: <763@ames.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 14-Jan-85 20:09:35 EST
Article-I.D.: ames.763
Posted: Mon Jan 14 20:09:35 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 16-Jan-85 05:21:13 EST
References: <2217@Glacier.ARPA>
Distribution: net
Organization: NASA-Ames Research Center, Mtn. View, CA
Lines: 36

I fully appreciate Brian's posting of the ubiquitousness of the net.
I also appreciate the posting repeating that few people even know about
networks.  It turns out that I was just invited to visit China.
It also turns out that the professor who invited me has 1) never heard of
the Usenet [he is a CS professor, but I will not mention his name
or institution], 2) has had poor experiences using networks [he owns
four personal computers C-64 class machines and uses IBMs at work],
3) when he heard about some of my work, he asked me to speak about
positive experience on networks to the Chinese.

My exposure to networks was something of a fluke.  It included playing
chess on DEC-10s at MIT from an IBM on the early ARPAnet to Xerox Altos
multicasting Star Trek over Ethernet at Caltech.

I think it is difficult for people to keep up with all the developments
happening in computers, so it doesn't surprise me that people don't
know about the net.  I went with my girlfriend to a job fair where one
vendor had a PC running a paint program.  The vendor said I was the first
person he had seen all day [out of thousands] who knew what a paint program
was [this was before MacPaint came out].  I'm giving a low level talk
about the ARPAnet on Thursday to some users unfamiliar with networks
[physicists].

Anyway, I hope talking about Unix in China won't violate any AT&T agreements
(since they can't sell Unix there).  This might mean more exposure about
this net.  I'm not certain I can make it to China, nor I am certain what
I will talk about, but networks are something the trip leader is
interested.

--eugene miya
  NASA Ames Research Center
  {hplabs,ihnp4,dual,hao,vortex}!ames!aurora!eugene
  emiya@ames-vmsb.ARPA

p.s. what all of you are doing are doing with the net is fantastic.
	Long live chaos!