Computer Hysteria: "Surfs Up"

                                     
    by Berry F. Phillips    March 2004

Just imagine that you could surf the Internet and always catch the "big
wave"; Internet2 (I2) and the Next Generation Internet (NGI) fires the
imagination of Internet surfing in the future. Prior to 1995, the
National Science Foundation's (NSF) NSFnet provided communication to the
research and academic community, which was not available for commercial use. In 1995, NSFnet went public, which gave birth to the present Internet. The explosive growth of the Internet is now history, and the increased traffic gradually reduced valuable bandwidth.

The university community created Internet2 because of a need to return to
a dedicated bandwidth for academic and research use exclusively. While I2
is focused on the academic community, it is expected to also develop
technologies and applications that will be used by the rest of society.

Internet2 continues to define its relationship with the other Internet
initiative, Next Generation Internet. NGI is concerned with how to best
apply the experience and expertise of the I2 community to its
initiatives. Both programs face funding problems. I2 depends on academic
resources and investment, and NGI relies on congressional funding. Let’s
hope that I2 and NGI can create not just a new Internet but a new
Internet environment.

You can be assured that, when surfing the future Internet,  you won't
have a "wipe out" when you become a member of Oklahoma City PC Users
Group. "Help, help, I am drowning--saved just in time by an OKCPCUG
member!"
 

Berry Phillips is a member of the OKCPCUG and a regular writer for the OKCPCUG website and the eMonitor