Reborn Tech Maniac

Chapter 889 Tang's Advanced IT and Internet

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It is necessary to point out that during the turbulent development of the Internet, the battles are not limited to Netscape’s challenge to Zheru Software and other commercial companies, such as Internet Engineering Task Force, Internet Architecture Committee, Internet Society, World Wide Web Consortium, etc. Industry organizations are also constantly fighting openly and secretly.

The root cause is that no one doubts the great potential and value of the Internet, a super platform, and as long as there is a little technical stock in the stomach, they are ambitiously trying to participate in the operation of such industry organizations, move their mouths, and stretch out their hands. , to achieve the purpose of leaving a name in history.

To take a most ironic example, pre-1990s, the much-loved Internet Engineering Task Force, triumphantly proclaimed, and the dull, noisy bureaucracy of the ISO-International Organization for Standardization, ITU-T-International Telecommunication Union Telecommunication Standardization Sector Compared with the style of work, I am a more agile, more open-minded, and more open standardization entity.

As a result, in recent years, the size of the Internet Engineering Task Force has rapidly expanded, and the previous efficient work style that was naturally brought about by being short and concise has basically disappeared. Go, democracy is enough, but it has not been concentrated to end, resulting in inaction, which is not as good as the performance of ISO and ITU-T.

At the same time, the number of websites worldwide has exploded to tens of thousands.

There are no rules, nothing can be achieved—the internet is true in advocating freedom, but it is also inseparable from various standards to regulate.

And this seemingly increasingly unsolvable chaos has made many insightful people helplessly pessimistic about the future—the famous Robert Metcalfe is one of them.

Originally, the Ethernet technology launched by this man competed with IBM's token ring network; the 3COM company he created was constrained by the board of directors controlled by venture investors. The time has come and turned - as the Fangyuan personal computer standard has become the mainstream in the field of personal computers, Ethernet has also become the mainstream in the field of local area networks; 3COM has made a lot of money just by selling Ethernet network cards.

It's just that the positions of CEO and chairman of the board of directors are not as leisurely as imagined.

As a result, Robert Metcalfe became lazy and transferred his duties to others, while he leisurely became an industry observer and angel investor - just like Woz, the founder of Apple, who was idle and resting on his laurels without doing his job. The ground is doing things blindly.

Of course, the difference in thinking between these two people is still very big, and it can even be called polar opposite.

Robert Metcalf, for example, worries about the unregulated Internet and scoffs at the open-source software movement; Woz talks about both.

Robert Metcalf observes industry dynamics with great enthusiasm and enough detail.

In his speech, in addition to talking about the technical Internet standards that have not kept up with the development of the Internet, he also mentioned legal and other issues - US government departments such as the Department of Defense have been frequently attacked by cyberattacks this year. ; Without legal support, the FBI and the Secret Service suddenly raided hackers' residences. This exposed the social crisis, the government's serious ignorance of new forms of network communication, and the freedom of citizens on the Internet. ~by...

It’s no wonder that Robert Metcalf predicted that “the Internet will collapse next year.” All he sees is the imminent crisis of prosperity, while those institutions with enough influence are operating slowly, making it hard to see to the solution shadow.

Tang Huan listened with gusto in the audience——Robert Metcalfe's unfounded worries seemed ridiculous, but once he reached a certain level, he could understand that the essence was serious.

At this stage, on the Internet in the United States, reading a book of pictures of "teachers" is already very smooth; while in China, it is at the level of reading novels-just like personal computers. There is an associated culture.

Robert Metcalfe's swearing is actually entangled with the freedom of the Internet-everyone wants unfettered freedom, but the freedom of wild horses, the dust raised, and Blur the foreground.

Of course Tang Huan knew and was sure—next year, the Internet will not collapse; Robert Metcalfe, an old friend, is doomed to eat his own manuscripts raw.

But Mr. Rich still likes this seemingly pointless discussion because it helps create the momentum needed to launch P2P.

You know, P2P is an indispensable foundation for many key applications.

When it was his turn to speak on stage, Tang Huan specifically mentioned Robert Metcalf's concerns. Although he could not fully agree with them, he understood them very well.

Then, he turned to the topic and said: "Everyone may have noticed that Zheru booth displayed a peer-to-peer network—P2P solution."

"I think that for the current chaos of the Internet, P2P may have a positive impact of 'doing nothing'."

"Because on this peer-to-peer network, the truly idealized 'everyone is equal' can be realized, that is, each node is a client and also plays the role of a server, thereby removing the excessive dependence of the network on the central server. "

"There are two most obvious application scenarios of P2P, namely, authentication and communication. Simply put, when a certain identity or certain operation needs to be confirmed on the network, everyone endorses together. The more participants, the more credible it is. The higher the degree; when it is necessary to transmit data on the network, everyone comes together to exchange information, the more participants, the faster the transmission speed."

"Actually, the ideal state of the World Wide Web is a peer-to-peer network."

"Let me tell you a little news in advance - I have a new book that will be published soon. Don't laugh..."

Tang Huan waved his hand and explained seriously: "I heard that some people complained about "The Road to the Future", which is full of old stories and bloody chicken soup for the soul-I guarantee that the new book is really about the future. subject."

The audience laughed even louder, and Mr. Richest Man shrugged his shoulders mockingly, "For example, the concept, exploration and application of digital neural networks."

"If the Internet can automatically respond correctly to various external changes like the biological neural network, then everyone's worries and troubles will be much less."

"I personally think that if the Internet wants to achieve this ideal state, it must first achieve that each grid and each node are equal and have the same rights and obligations - the original intention of P2P is to build such a platform .”

……

At this COMDEX Las Vegas Autumn Exhibition industry forum, in addition to the "retreatist" Robert Metcalf shouting loudly, the "explorer" Tang Huan talked about practice, etc., there are also "pragmatics" who directly Fight for real money.

The CEO of Netscape, Jim Barksdale, is the most representative one. He directly criticized Zheru Software by name and name, using its own industry advantage to engage in monopoly and suppress the development of competitors.

It is not difficult to imagine that Jim Barksdale's scolding was much more straightforward and straightforward than the "advanced" topics of Robert Metcalfe, Tang Huan and others. It was extremely entertaining and immediately attracted a lot of attention. focus on.

When the richest man was routinely interviewed by the media, he was naturally asked what his stance was on this.

"Nowadays everyone is enthusiastically discussing the spirit of freedom and equality displayed by the Internet, but it is inevitable that some people will use it to confuse people and use it to gain sympathy from the weak." Tang Huan said lightly: "We should not turn a blind eye to it. , Netscape’s various extremely aggressive actions in operation—you can’t start acting pitiful and kidnapping public opinion and morality just because you rushed too hard and hit your head badly—what everyone competes with is technical Is it interesting to talk about those useless things?"

The richest man's disdain and contempt for Jim Barksdale's jumping up and down was simply overwhelming, and the reporters, who were always responsive, suddenly became excited-as expected they could make a big fuss.

Another reporter asked pointedly: "Tang, recently someone discovered that Zheru Software's operating system, StudiOS, will generate a string of codes related to the user's name and address according to the user's computer hardware configuration, that is, a globally unique identifier. code, and this identification code will be sent to Zheru Software’s website server through the electronic registration process of StudiOS without the user’s knowledge.”

"Some analysts believe that Zheru Software uses this method to determine whether a set of software is installed on multiple computers, and then to find pirated software."

"The New York Times even revealed that Zheru Software has quietly collected a huge database of user information in this way."

"There is also a rumor that Zheru Software Co., Ltd. cooperates with intelligence agencies to hide the code for tracking and collecting information in the operating system with the highest share in the world - StudiOS."

"Excuse me, Tang, has Zheru Software set up a 'back door' in the product that may leak user information?"

The richest man listened patiently to the other party. He quickly finished asking questions according to his notebook, and then made a strong gesture. Respect the privacy of users, and leave the right of choice to users to make their own decisions."

"Specifically, as far as I know, in order to enhance the user experience, the browser Polestar collects data through cookie technology, which is stored in a secure area on the user's computer and can be cleared at any time; as for those data that are uploaded to the website server The information also allows the user to clear it."

"The rapid development of the Internet has indeed led to some new issues in terms of morality, law, etc. In this regard, Zheru Software has always maintained a humble and awe-inspiring heart, standing with the most users. It is inviting people from various fields Experts, discuss how to keep pace with the times and update the terms of the software license agreement to constrain everyone's behavior."

Although Tang Huan's answer seemed to be evasive, the reporters also knew that he could only do so much. After all, there were some unspoken rules, as long as he was not mentally handicapped, he would understand it.

Anyway, there are already topics that can be hyped up.

Mr. Richest Man showed great disdain when Jim Barksdale scolded Zheru Software for its monopoly and dominance, which caused Netscape to be treated unfairly. After being inferior to others on the right path, he went astray angrily, pretending to be pitiful and gaining sympathy.

Don't slap people in the face when you hit them, don't expose your faults when you scold them——Tang Huan's counterattack is not ordinary embarrassment.

In addition to the raging war of words, people have also noticed the P2P technology and application solutions mentioned by the richest man - his style of acting is as usual, making decisions before making moves. When things come out, they are already perfect and available in one step. , There is no need to tinker with a "trilogy" like Microsoft.

Naturally, the unique advantages of P2P in data transmission have first attracted widespread attention.

Although P2P technology has copyright, it is open source, which can be described as "disinterested", and there are no suspicions, suspicions, or fabrications of nonsense.

So, almost overnight, its software was installed on countless computers, and the P2P network seemed to take shape.

There is also a hacker race, and it took only three days to launch a third-party download software that complies with P2P specifications.

As a result, even the least tech-sensitized ordinary Internet user knows - it turns out that downloading can be so fast!So cool!Any picture, music, or even video, can all be shared heartily!
At this stage, the modem dial-up Internet access mode most used by ordinary users in the United States has already popularized the access speed of 56kbps; while the ADSL most used by business users is at least 128kbps.

Compared with ten years ago, this level is simply a leap forward. The industry is so proud that there are voices declaring that "the network bandwidth is sufficient", such as Hayes Corporation, which has been focusing on modem products for more than ten years.

Now that P2P comes out, all the line providers are overwhelmed. The cable communication load remains high. Calmly prepared to meet the wave of procurement.

The record industry predicts pessimistically that P2P has virtually contributed to the flood of unauthorized digital music distribution, and the sales performance of traditional record companies will be further hit.

These disturbances are only caused by the communication function of P2P, and the influence of the authentication function is also fermenting subtly.

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(End of this chapter)