Larry Roberts has passed away at 81 years of age. While the name sounds unfamiliar to many of you, the man is one of the pioneers and architects of the early forms of the internet that we are so widely use and are accustomed to.
Specifically, Roberts was responsible for being the program manager for ARPAnet, which was the precursor to the internet. During that period, Roberts and his team moved around ARPAnet via “packet switching techniques” created by British computer scientist, Donald Davies.
Roberts’ legacy has since lived on through various companies and efforts. After ARPAnet, Roberts commercialised packet switching technology through his own company, Telenet. He also had another two companies, Caspian Networks (which is now defunct) and Anagran. Both of which have been involved in the boosting and improvement of quality of service for more current features and technologies, such as video streaming.
(Source: Engadget via Om Malik)
