The receiving computer crashed as it couldn’t cope with the transmission speed of 5,000 characters per second.
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The first 'internet' message was 'LO' (Image credit: Future) The foundations of the internet were set 56 years ago. However, like many other great moments in history, the story of the first computer-to-computer message sent over a distributed packet-switched network, began with an underwhelming fizz, rather than a bang. Moreover, it involved a computer crash and a ‘typo’ – how thoroughly modern.
If you’ve read or watched anything about the history of the internet, you will have probably heard of ARPANET (the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network). At around 10.30pm on October 29, 1969, two scientists set out to test communications between two of the four systems ARPANET systems, 350 miles apart.
Charley Kline from UCLA intended to send the first message across this embryonic distributed network. He’d settled on just five characters, typing out ‘LOGIN’ for the momentous occasion. However, Bill Duvall at Stanford Research Institute (SRI) only received ‘LO’ before his computer system crashed… Great start.
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Key considerations
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Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/networking/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/networking/this-week-in-1969-the-internet-was-born-and-immediately-glitched-only-two-of-the-five-letters-in-the-first-computer-to-computer-message-were-received#main
- https://www.tomshardware.com
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