1977

1977


Diagram of the Multinetwork Demonstration

Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs announce the Apple II computer. Also introduced are the Tandy TRS-80 and the Commodore Pet. These three off-the-shelf machines create the consumer and small business markets for computers.

Cerf and Kahn mount a major demonstration, ‘internetting’ among the Packet Radio net, SATNET, and the ARPANET. Messages go from a van in the Bay Area across the US on ARPANET, then to University College London and back via satellite to Virginia, and back through the ARPANET to the University of Southern California’s Information Sciences Institute. This shows its applicability to international deployment.

Larry Landweber of the University of Wisconsin creates THEORYNET providing email between over 100 researchers and linking elements of the University of Wisconsin in different cities via a commercial packet service like Telenet.