Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site ames.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!allegra!mit-eddie!godot!harvard!seismo!hao!ames!eugene 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!