[2129] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
Re: Trickle Down? How About Bubble Up?
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Edward Vielmetti)
Tue Jan 28 00:11:39 1992
Date: Mon, 27 Jan 92 23:55 EST
From: emv@msen.com (Edward Vielmetti)
To: mfidelma@diamond.bbn.COM
Cc: com-priv@uu.psi.com
In-Reply-To: <9201280048.AA02852@diamond.bbn.com>
Cc:
In article <9201280048.AA02852@diamond.bbn.com> you write:
>It seems to me that dial-up IP misses the point for small users. For a
>lot of applications, it is not very effective to run a PC-class
>machine, behind a low bandwidth link, as a full Internet host.
PC-class machines are completely capable of being full internet hosts.
Even on a low bandwidth link. You have to have more sensible software tho.
No-name clone 386 machines are easily right up there with vaxen of days
of yore as far as power goes.
>For example, from my home Mac, I currently have two news reading
>options available:
>
> 1. run a newreader on the Mac, communicating with an NNTP server
> over a SLIP connection
>
> 2. log in as a dumb terminal to a network-connected unix box that
> supports nn
3. Run a full UUCP and news system on your mac (e.g. uAccess), get
as much of a newsfeed as you see fit delivered via UUCP at night
when rates are low and the machine is otherwise idle. Read the
news "off line", make any postings you see fit, and then the next
night send the outbound stuff and get more fresh new stuff.
>Given that I use a 2400 baud modem, running MNP5 compression, option 2
>works a lot better than option 1.
Ah, but not everyone has a network-connected unix box just handy -
if you're talking low bandwidth you need to assume out in the boonies
where you're not within a local call of a T3 line. You can drag down
a fair amount of netnews at 2400 baud while you're asleep, then read
it at full speed with a native user interface when you're not connected.
>> "general purpose version of something like Compuserve's Navigator"
>> description deleted.
I.e. the client is smart, has a lot of power to deal with data once
it's been downloaded, and once you're off line; but you have some
kind of mediated access to host services when you're on line.
>Anyway, any comments, responses? Any body want to step up to
>developing a prototype?
I don't see the point of not running IP over this link, unless you
want to spec out another low overhead compressable standard well
documented off the shelf protocol to put in its place. Or perhaps
the PSIlink approach of a proprietary reliable sequenced protocol
will win out in the end. Depends on your perspective, I guess.
You're assuming that connection establishment is cheap and that on-line
charges are minimal. Don't do that. Certain sets of applications
which are traditionally though of as interactive (remote library card
catalogs, ftp, searches on remote databases) should be doable with
a little motivation via a batched service.
There are examples of services which are like this -- apparently the
America On-line user interface has many of these features, and it would
be quite interesting to bring that idea back over to the internet
to deal with a part-time IP connectivity model. A little IP implementation
on the bottom with demand-dial SLIP or PPP, a reasonable GUI on top,
support for the ordinary suite of Internet applications inside plus
enough autonomy to be able to read and compose mail and news off line.
At the minimum a modern telnet client built in so you can run nn on
that remote unix system if you want to.
(heck, i'd run it instead of kermit from here at home if it had a
decent editor...)
Lots of work to be done, I expect someone is working on it now.
Only problem is I expect they don't have ready internet access....
Disclaimer: uAccess is not the only software that does UUCP on a micro,
just one that I'm familiar with. If the author makes a zillion dollars
on it I stand to benefit indirectly (he'll probably buy me coffee).
--
Edward Vielmetti, vice president for research, MSEN Inc. emv@msen.com
MSEN Inc., 628 Brooks, Ann Arbor MI 48103 +1 313 741 1120
