Event 1

For event 1 I went to the Leonard Kleinrock Internet Heritage Site located at 3420 Boelter Hall where the first internet message was sent. It is incredible how many hidden gems there are on campus. The room I went to was filled with original furniture, historical pictures, research papers and notes. It was designed to take you back in time to 1969 and that is exactly what it did. 

This event is related to week 3's topic, which is industrialization / knowledge production / mechanization / robotics and art. Professor Vesna spoke about what a profound influence computer technology has had on our lives. Throughout this course, there has been a common theme of war and military driving technological advances. It turns out that the Internet first developed from the ARPANET, a rudimentary computer network was commissioned by the U.S. Department of Defense. Leonard Kleinrock when speaking about the ARPANET node said "How many revolutions can you think about where you can see—within a few feet!—where it began? This machine is where the internet breathed to life, spoke its first words," (Kleinrock). I think that this is significant because it is like a time capsule. Technology is rapidly advancing and we can see the importance it in our daily lives. Brad Filder, a doctoral candidate in history assembled this room. I think it is marvelous how a work of art is able to recreate a historic moment in time. 

I think this exhibit will be of tremendous benefit when I am designing my own project for the midterm. I learned that it can take a while before we realize the impact of an invention. This was the case of Leonard Kleinrock's network, which did not gain momentum until after the usage of email by the public. I am going to focus on creating a new product in medical technology. I want to develop a device which will not only be life changing, but shall also open new doors for medical innovations. 

I really enjoyed this exhibit because it was incredible to see how the first form of internet messaging came about and to discover that it happened at UCLA. It is amazing how they were able to place the exhibit in the exact location where it occurred. I would highly recommend going to see this in person because it feels like you are taken back in time to the 1960's. It inspires not only students, but the public to be more innovative.

Works Cited:

Savio, Jessica. “Browsing History: A Heritage Site Is Being Set up in Boelter Hall 3420, the Room the First Internet Message Originated In.” Daily Bruin, Apr. 2011, dailybruin.com/2011/04/01/browsing_history/.

Kudler, Adrian Glick. “Here's the Room at UCLA Where the Internet Was Born (It Tweets).” Curbed LA, Curbed LA, 11 Apr. 2011, la.curbed.com/2011/4/11/10473182/heres-the-room-at-ucla-where-the-internet-was-born-it-tweets-1.

Online, UC. “Robotics pt2.” YouTube, YouTube, 15 Apr. 2012, <www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=92&v=oAZ8bo9T_Pk>.

“Oral-History:Leonard Kleinrock.” Oral-History:Leonard Kleinrock - Engineering and Technology History Wiki, ethw.org/Oral-History:Leonard_Kleinrock.

Walker, Alissa. “This Is The Room Where The Internet Was Born.” Gizmodo, Gizmodo, 5 Mar. 2014, gizmodo.com/this-is-the-room-where-the-internet-was-born-1527205592.