Rebirth of America, this is my era

Chapter 53 Ethan, you are so kind!
Ethan was a little confused by the continuous questioning.

He scratched his head with a frown, wondering why his sister was suddenly so excited.

But after looking at Evelyn, Ethan suddenly understood.

He found that he seemed to have forgotten something.

Forget that Evelyn is an engineering student, an engineering student who can touch a computer at Stanford.

Yes, in Ethan's opinion, the only thing that could make Evelyn jump up and down was the 6502 product.

After all, there is no one who can learn computers in this era who doesn't want to own a computer.

The emergence of cheap CPUs means that these tech-savvy guys can use their own hands to realize their dreams.

And he discovered this product but didn't buy it?

Oh - he was indeed a little inconsiderate.

When he thought of this, Ethan smiled again and said, "Okay, okay, this is my problem. I forgot to order it for you after I found the cheap and useful chip. I'm sorry about this."

"I'll call now and have them mail it to me."

Ethan didn't try to argue and directly admitted his mistake.

But his frankness made Evelin raise her eyebrows.

"Ethan!" the girl said in surprise, "Don't you understand what I mean?"

'? '

Ethan's mouth dropped open slightly, somewhat puzzled.

He had admitted his mistake and was ready to make amends, so why was Evelin still unhappy?

And that confused look made Evelin raise her hand in anger, and poked his chest hard with her right index finger.

"Are you stupid?"

"This is not a question of whether to buy chips or not, it's a question of whether to help or not!"

"The MOS company you mentioned, Chuck Petrus, the inventor of 6502, and others need help! Legal help!"

"Why didn't you tell me such a big thing as soon as you came back?"

'! ! ! '

Ethan blinked at his sister's question.

His surprise made Evelin's eyes blaze with anger, and her tone rose directly -

"Oh my God! You don't have any idea of ​​how to help?"

"Chuck Petrus and his team are doing something really great! They want to bring computers to every home! To do this, they are even willing to become an enemy of Motorola! Under these circumstances, when they are in trouble, don't you have any intention of helping them?"

"I thought you told me this because you wanted me to go to Barbara and ask for advice for them!"

"But you-"

"You you you think I only want 6502?"

Evelin stuttered a little.

That's angry.

Looking at the hands waving in the air and the excited figure, Ethan opened his mouth but couldn't fart for a long time.

Because he felt as if he understood what Evelyn meant, understood Evelyn's thoughts, or in other words, he glimpsed a spirit from Evelyn, a spirit called knowledge sharing and technology sharing.

In fact, the spirit of sharing is not a product of the Internet age. Before the advent of the Internet, this selfless concept had already been popular in the scientific research community.

Take Jonas Salk, for example, who invented the polio vaccine and killed polio.

But in order to save lives, he gave up the patent application.

Sometimes, ordinary people really cannot understand what these big guys are thinking.

But the world is indeed more brilliant because of the existence of these people.

"Okay, okay, I think I see what you mean."

Ethan sighed, chuckled, and nodded: "Okay, I admit that my head is indeed full of business ideas."

"As you can imagine, I really didn't want to help them, because I felt that according to their philosophy, even if I helped them, I wouldn't be able to get the exclusive license for 6502."

"You may look down on me, but... I don't think there's any need to lie to you about this."

"Yes, I am so utilitarian."

Ethan’s honesty made Evelin stunned for two seconds.

Her gaze softened as the self-mockery came into view.

Her body softened and she leaned back. The comfortable sofa made her voice even more gentle. “Ethan, you still don’t understand what I mean.”

"Ok?"

"I don't mean to accuse you."

"Really?" Ethan didn't believe it.

"Of course." Evelin laughed and said, "Because I know that all research and development requires money. If the things developed with money don't get the due return, then how can such a costly project as scientific research continue?"

This question made Ethan relax all over, his eyes narrowed, and he said, "So what do you mean?"

"My meaning is very simple," Evelyn said. "We may not be so noble, and we may not be able to make selfless contributions, but when others want to contribute, we should support them, and when they are in trouble, we should try our best to help them."

"You may think my idea is very naive, because helping others change the world will not make you famous."

"But... I want to tell you that when you help others, you are also helping yourself."

Ethan pursed his lips at Evelyn’s ideal words.

He didn't know how to respond. While he was organizing his words, Evelyn said, "Do you think my idea is ridiculous?"

"No." Ethan shook his head decisively and said, "Everyone has their own beliefs. This is their freedom."

“You still misunderstood.” Evelin shook her head and said, “Then let’s put it another way. Do you want to know why I have such an idea?”

This question actually made Ethan very interested. "Of course, if you are willing to talk about it."

"Oh - there's nothing I can't tell you - as long as you don't mind me being long-winded -" Evelyn smiled and sighed: "In fact, a year ago, or a year and a half ago, I had the same idea as you."

"If this matter has nothing to do with me and can't bring me any benefit, why should I intervene?"

"But a year and a half ago, something happened that made me completely change my mind."

"Do you know about the Wide Area Network? It's the telephone network, the network that uses telephone communications."

“That’s what the military uses.”

"This thing may have been a good invention when it was first invented, but in this era, it is outdated. For example, it is very slow and can be easily destroyed. Therefore, in order to ensure uninterrupted communications during war, ARPA wants to develop a network that can withstand destruction under nuclear deterrence."

"As for why there is such a demand, I think I don't need to explain this, right?"

"Su Wei Ai." Ethan interrupted.

"Yeah~" Evelyn nodded with a smile.

At the same time, she continued, “And thanks to the research of scientists, the ARPANET appeared.”

"It was a project led by ARPA that would connect computers together and transfer data."

"I don't know if you can understand this kind of thing, because it is confidential and the media rarely reports it. I can only tell you that the ARPANET is very magical. It can break down a piece of information composed of letters into data packets, send them to where people want them to go, and then assemble them at the other end to achieve efficient data transmission."

"It was officially put into use in 69. Initially, there were four nodes, one at UCLA and one at Santa Barbara, the University of Utah, and Stanford."

“And because four nodes are also easy to destroy, in the following years, schools and institutions such as MIT, Harvard, Carnegie, and NASA joined in.”

"Although this addition makes data transmission seem more secure, at the same time, a problem arises. The original design of the ARPANET is a homogeneous environment. The computers can only transmit data when the network components and languages ​​are the same or compatible."

"It is obviously impossible to get the computers of various schools and institutions to agree on the same computer language."

"So, in order to ensure that data can be transmitted normally, ARPA can only find a way to solve the problem of data transmission on different machines and in different languages."

"And this problem was solved by us at Stanford a year ago."

"You know Mr. Vinton, right? He's the one I mentioned to you before. He and his partner Robert Kahn solved this problem together."

"They invented a new technology called TCP/IP protocol, which successfully connected different types of computers and operating languages. In December last year, they conducted an experiment in which a data packet was successfully transmitted over 60,000 miles and reached a computer that did not match the type of machine that sent it."

"Really, when they get to this point, they just have to continue to research and improve it, and then they can report to ARPA that the project is complete."

“But they didn’t.”

"Do you know why Mr. Vinton is looking for Barbara so frequently?"

"Because he felt that the TCP/IP protocol could change the world."

"When computers on the market cannot be unified, the TCP/IP protocol that can ensure unified communication is the key to connecting everything."

"He didn't want to give the patent to ARPA, he wanted to keep it himself."

"If one day in the future ordinary people need to use it, they will directly open up the license."

Hearing this, Ethan's face was full of surprise.

And Evelyn continued—

"Do you know how surprised I was when I learned that Mr. Vinton wanted to go against ARPA?"

"But he told me that many things have to be done by someone."

“I was even more surprised by Ms. Barbara’s reaction after she heard Mr. Vinton’s needs.”

"Because Barbara agreed without even thinking about it."

"Later, I asked Barbara why she agreed so readily."

"Barbara told me that there were two reasons. One was that she really admired Vinton and his ideas and practices. The second was that helping Vinton was helping herself."

Evelin paused, sat up again, and said seriously—

"Ethan, you call yourself a snob?"

"Oh—it seems to me that you and Barbara are a long way from that."

"You lectured me in front of Barbara that day?"

"And Barbara praised your behavior?"

"Hahaha~ I dare say that if you tell her your thoughts just now about not helping Chuck Pete, she will definitely be very disappointed in you."

"Because, after she told me that helping Vinton was helping herself, she also explained the reason in a self-deprecating tone."

"She helped Vinton change the world today. If she gets into trouble tomorrow, Vinton will definitely use all his connections to help her. Because a person who is selfless enough to change the world by sharing patents will never abandon his friends when they are in trouble."

"At the same time, she helped Vinton change the world today. If someone else wants to change the world tomorrow, they will definitely come to her. People who have the ability to change the world are the best social resources in the world."

At this point, Evelin leaned forward, and she stopped when the tips of their noses were only an inch apart.

The girl stared at Ethan, emotion flashed in her beautiful eyes, and her words were full of joy.

"Do you think the patent licensing of 6502 is the greatest benefit?"

"Ethan, you are so kind compared to those who play with the law..."

Note: ①Someone guessed that Vinton was Vinton Cerf. The inventor of the TCP/IP protocol was an assistant professor at Stanford in 75 and did teach. ②Barbara Babcock was indeed a person who was very good at investing in personal connections. As mentioned earlier, Ginsburg, who praised her and became the last Supreme Court Justice with MAGA King Gang, was actually recommended by Barbara. On the day Barbara died, the obituary published by the New York Times directly used Ginsburg's words, "I would not hold the good job I have today were it not for Barbara."

PS, I am not a computer science major. If there are any errors in the description of ARPANET or TCP/IP protocol in this chapter, please correct me.

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(End of this chapter)