= Nerds 2.0.1
{c}
{tag=Documentary film}
{tag=Good documentary film}
{title2=1998}
{wiki}
= Glory of the Geeks
{c}
{synonym}
{title2}
Very very good. Those nice pre-<Dot-com bubble> vibes.
Might be freely watchable? Wikipedia links to:
* https://archive.org/details/Nerds_2.0.1_-_A_Brief_History_of_the_Internet_-_Part1
* https://archive.org/details/Nerds_2.0.1_-_A_Brief_History_of_the_Internet_-_Part2
* https://archive.org/details/Nerds_2.0.1_-_A_Brief_History_of_the_Internet_-_Part3
But they do start with an <FBI> warning about copyright. So... erm.
Part 1 - Networking The Nerds talks about the <TCP IP> and early machines implementing it:
* 21:00: shows inside <The Pentagon>. The way the dude who works there opens a his locked office door with an electric switch is just amazing. Cringely also mentions that there's an actual official speed limit in the corridors as he rides a carrier bike slowly through them.
* 21:45: the universities weren't enthusiastic, because people from other locations would be able to use your precious computer time. But finally <ARPA> forced the universities' hands, and they joined.
* 24:24 mentions that some of the guys who created ARPANET were actually previously counting cards at Casinos in Las Vegas, just like in the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/21_(2008_film)[21 (2008) film]
* one of the centerpieces of development was at <UCLA>. The other was the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raytheon_BBN[BBN company]. 33:55 shows the first <router>, then called them <Interface Message Processor>
* the first message was from <UCLA> to <Stanford University>. He was trying to write "Login", and it crashed at the 'g'. Epic. They later debugged it.
* towards the end talks about https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ALOHAnet[ALOHAnet], the first wireless computer communication done
Part 2 - Serving the Suits
* Robert Metcalfe. He's nice. <Xerox PARC>. <Ethernet>.
* Explains what is a "Workstation", notably showing one by <Sun Microsystems>. This is now an obscure "passé" thing in 2020 that young people like <Ciro Santilli> have only heard of in legend (or in outdated university computer labs!). Funny to think that so many people have had this idea before, including e.g. the <Chromebook>
* 10:46 mentions that all of <Cisco>, <Silicon Graphics> and <Sun Microsystems> and where founded at Margaret Jacks Hall, Building 460, at <Stanford University>.
* he then talks a lot about Sun. Sun became dominant in <Wall Street>.
* 19:05: Novell, from <Utah>. How they almost went bust, but were saved at the last moment by https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Noorda[Ray Noorda], who refocused them to their NetWare product which was under recent development. It allowed file and printer sharing in <IBM PCs>. 22:55 shows how they had a live radio host for people waiting on customer support calls!
* 33:56 mentions how The Grateful Dead had in impact on the Internet, as people wanted computers to be able to access https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_WELL[The WELL] online forum. They still own the domain as of 2022: https://www.well.com/[]. It is interesting how <Larry Page> also liked The Grateful Dead as mentioned at <The Google Story>, his dad would take him to shows. Larry is a bit younger of course than the people in this documentary.
* 37 show McAfee
* 43:56: fantastic portrait of <Cisco>
Part 3 - Wiring the World:
* Berners-Lee at <CERN> and the invention of the <URL>.
* 1992: <US Government> allow commerce on the <Internet>
* <Web browser> history, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosaic_(web_browser)[Mosaic] and Marc Andresseeen.
* 20:45: America Online
* 23:29: <search engines> and Excite. <Google> was a bit too small to be on his radar!
* 25:50: <porn>
* 27: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Motley_Fool[The Motley Fool] and advertising
* 30: Planet U grocery shopping
* 31:50: <Amazon>
* 33:00: immigrant workers, Indians playing cricket, outsourcing, Wipro Systems
* 41:25: <Java>
* 46:30: <Microsoft> joins the <Internet>. The Internet Tidal Wave Internet memo. Pearl Harbour day talk.
* 56:40: Excite Tour. If they had survived, they would have been <Google> with their quirky offices.