Packet Switching and ARPANET: Networking, 1959–1972

to define the future of data communications and its new enabling devices. Companies such as Codex, Milgo, and ADS sought to raise capital, ship products, and create a new market-structure. Between 1968 and 1972, companies waged the battle over technological leadership incrementally, through devices that could transmit data at slightly faster speeds for a slightly better customer value proposition. During these same few years, a different set of individuals charted a radically different technological future. These individuals operated outside the rules and regulations defining AT&T’s struggle with the federal government. And they oper­ ated outside the conventions of sales, manufacturing, and venture capital. They were outliers whose ideas soon would become mainstream. Many readers will recognize their names—J.C.R. Licklider, Paul Baran, and Larry Roberts—and the fruits of their work, namely, packet switching and the ARPANET. In this chapter, we recast their stories emphasizing the three key themes in this book, entrepreneurs, market-government boundaries, and learning. Entrepreneurial activities abounded—people starting companies, launching ini­ tiatives within existing organizations, and devising strategies to marshal resources behind their ideas. The theme of market–government boundaries also looms large in this chapter, with government investments (research grants and contracts) in the US and England for technologies that had not been developed by market par­ ticipants. In this chapter, we’ll see the importance of both the formal and informal aspects of learning. The formal aspects include degree programs at universities, as well as professional seminars and conferences. The informal aspects include Packet Switching and ARPANET: Networking, 1959–1972