Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gvvz8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T16:09:26.309Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

ARPA Does Windows: The Defense Underpinning of the PC Revolution

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Glenn R. Fong
Glenn R. Fong*
Affiliation:
Thunderbird, The American Graduate School of International Management
*
Associate Professor of International Studies, Thunderbird, The American Graduate School of International Management, Glendale AZ 85306, USA. Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The Defense Department's Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) has aggressively and persistently supported technologies key to the personal computer (PC) revolution. Uncovering this political-economic link provides an important corrective to the popular lore surrounding the origins of the PC. In their emphases on private sector initiative and entrepreneurial risk-taking, conventional PC histories conform to orthodox market-based explanations of technological and economic progress. In contradistinction, this article “brings the state back in” to the PC realm of apparent market purity.

Type
Research Article
Information
Business and Politics , Volume 3 , Issue 3 , November 2001 , pp. 213 - 237
Copyright
Copyright © V.K. Aggarwal 2001 and published under exclusive license to Cambridge University Press 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Association for Computing Machinery, Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction. 1992. Curricula for Human-Computer Interaction. New York: ACM. Website: <http://www.acm.org/sigchi/cdg/>..>Google Scholar
Baecker, Ronald M. and Buxton, William A.S. 1987. “The Star, the Lisa, and the Macintosh.” In Readings in Human-Computer Interaction: A Multidisciplinary Approach, edited by Baecker, Ronald M. and Buxton, William A.S. Los Altos, CA: Morgan Kaufmann.Google Scholar
Berners-Lee, Tim. 1995. “Hypertext and Our Collective Destiny.” Presented at “As We May Think—A Celebration of Vannevar Bush's 1945 Vision.” MIT Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science. October 12–13. Website: <http://www.w3.org/Talks/9510_Bush/Talk.html>..' href=https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Berners-Lee,+Tim.+1995.+“Hypertext+and+Our+Collective+Destiny.”+Presented+at+“As+We+May+Think—A+Celebration+of+Vannevar+Bush's+1945+Vision.”+MIT+Department+of+Electrical+Engineering+&+Computer+Science.+October+12–13.+Website:+.>Google Scholar
Bootstrap Institute. “Biographical Sketch: Douglas Carl Engelbart.” Website: <http://www.bootstrap.org/dce-bio.htm>..>Google Scholar
Campbell-Kelly, Martin and Aspray, William. 1996. Computer: A History of the Information Machine. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Card, Stuart K. 1996. “Pioneers and Settlers: Methods Used in Successful User Interface Design.” In Human-Computer Interface Design: Success Stories, Emerging Methods, and Real-World Context, edited by Rudisill, Marianne, Polson, Clayton Lewis, Peter G., and McKay, Tim. San Francisco: Morgan Kaufmann Publishers.Google Scholar
Cerf, Vinton. 1993. “How the Internet Came to Be.” In Aboba, Bernard, The Online User's Encyclopedia. Boston: Addison-Wesley.Google Scholar
Ceruzzi, Paul E. 1998. A Modern History of Computing: 1945–1995. Cambridge: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Computing Research Association. 1997. Computing Research: A National Investment for Leadership in the 21st Century. Washington, DC: Computing Research Association.Google Scholar
Edge Foundation. “Intentional Programming: A Talk With Charles Simonyi.” Website:<http://digerati.edge.org/digerati/simonyi/simonyi_p1.html>..>Google Scholar
Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Website: <http://search.eb.com/bol/topic?eu=117673&sctn=1#665402>>Google Scholar
English, William K., Englebart, Douglas C., Berman, and Melvyn A. 1967. “Display-Selection Techniques for Text Manipulation.” IEEE Transactions on Human Factors in Electronics 8 (1): 5–15.Google Scholar
Evans, Peter, Rueschemeyer, Dietrich, and Skocpol, Theda. 1985. Bringing The State Back In. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Fong, Glenn R. 2000. “Breaking New Ground or Breaking the Rules: Strategic Reorientation in U.S. Industrial Policy.” International Security 25 (2): 152–186.Google Scholar
Geschke, Charles. 1999. “The U.S. Environment for Venture Capital and Technology Based Start-Ups.” In National Research Council, Harnessing Science and Technology for America's Economic Future: National and Regional Priorities. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.Google Scholar
Hafner, Katie and Lyon, Matthew. 1996. Where Wizards Stay Up Late: The Origins of the Internet. New York: Simon & Schuster.Google Scholar
Hart, Jeffrey A., Reed, Robert R., and Bar, Francois. 1992. “The Building of the Internet: Implications for the Future of Broadband Networks.” Telecommunications Policy 16 (8): 666–689.Google Scholar
Hiltzik, Michael. 1999. Dealers of Lightening: Xerox PARC and the Dawn of the Computer Age. New York: Harper Business.Google Scholar
Intel Computing Continuum Conference. 15–17 March 2000. Website: <http://www.intel.com/intel/cccon/>>Google Scholar
Johnson, Jeff, Roberts, Teresa L., Smith, William Verplank, David C., Irby, Charles H., Beard, Marian and Mackey, Keven. 1989. “The Xerox Star: A Retrospective.” IEEE Computer. 22 (9): 11–29.Google Scholar
Kay, Alan. 1995. “Simex: The Neglected Part of Bush's Vision.” Presented at “As We May Think—A Celebration of Vannevar Bush's 1945 Vision.” MIT Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science. 12–13 October. Website: <http://www-eecs.mit.edu/AY95-96/events/bush/f2.html>..' href=https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Kay,+Alan.+1995.+“Simex:+The+Neglected+Part+of+Bush's+Vision.”+Presented+at+“As+We+May+Think—A+Celebration+of+Vannevar+Bush's+1945+Vision.”+MIT+Department+of+Electrical+Engineering+&+Computer+Science.+12–13+October.+Website:+.>Google Scholar
Lampson, Butler W. 1988. “Personal Distributed Computing: The Alto and Ethernet Software.” In A History of Personal Workstations, edited by Goldberg, Adele. New York: Addison-Wesley.Google Scholar
Leiner, Barry M., Cerf, Vinton G., Clark, David D., Kahn, Robert E., Lynch, Leonard Kleinrock, Daniel C., Roberts, Jon Postel, Larry G., and Wolff, Stephen. 1997. “A Brief History of the Internet.” Website: <http://www.isoc.org/internet/history/brief.html>>Google Scholar
Levy, Steven. 1994. Insanely Great: The Life and Times of Macintosh. New York: Penguin.Google Scholar
Licklider, J.C.R. 1960. “Man-Computer Symbiosis.” IRE Transactions on Human Factors in Electronics 1 (1): 4–11.Google Scholar
Licklider, J.C.R. and Taylor, Robert. 1968. “The Computer as a Communication Device” Science and Technology (April).Google Scholar
Linzmayer, Owen W. 1999. Apple Confidential: The Real Story of Apple Computer. San Francisco: No Starch Press.Google Scholar
Miller, Lawrence H. and Johnson, Jeff. 1996. “The Xerox Star: An Influential User Interface Design.” In Human-Computer Interface Design: Success Stories, Emerging Methods, and Real-World Context, edited by Rudisill, Marianne, McKay, Clayton Lewis, and Timothy D. San Francisco: Morgan Kaufmann.Google Scholar
Microsoft News Release. 1998. “Remarks by Bill Gates.” May 18.Google Scholar
“Tlie Mouse,” San Jose Mercury News, website: <http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/special/engelbart/>>Google Scholar
Myers, Brad A. 1968. “A Brief History of Human Computer Interaction Technology.” ACM Interactions 5 (2).Google Scholar
National Research Council. 1995. Evolving the High Performance Computing and Communications Initiative to Support the Nation's Information Infrastructure. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.Google Scholar
“Nerds 2.0.1.” 1998. Public Broadcasting System.Google Scholar
Norberg, Arthur L. and O'Neill, Judy E. 1996. Transforming Computer Technology: Information Processing for the Pentagon, 1962–1986. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
“Of Mice and Menus: Designing the User-Friendly Interface.” 1989. IEEE Spectrum 27 (9): 46–51.Google Scholar
Reed, Sidney G., Van Atta, Richard H., and Deitchman, Seymour J. 1990. DARPA Technical Accomplishments, Volume 1: An Historical Review of Selected DARPA Projects. Alexandria, VA: Institute for Defense Analysis.Google Scholar
Rheingold, Howard. 1985. Tools For Thought: The People and Ideas of the Next Computer Revolution. New York: Simon & Schuster. Website: <http://www.rheingold.com/texts/tft/>Google Scholar
Rose, Frank. 1989. West of Eden: The End of Innocence at Apple Computer. New York: Viking Penguin.Google Scholar
Smith, David Canfield, Irby, Charles, Kimball, Ralph, Verplank, Bill, and Harslem, Eric. 1982. “Designing the Star User Interface.” Byte 7 (4): 242–282.Google Scholar
Smith, Douglas K. and Alexander, Robert C. 1988. Fumbling the Future: How Xerox Invented, Then Ignored, The First Personal Computer. New York: W. Morrow. Kaufmann.Google Scholar
Smithsonian Institution. 1993. Bill Gates interview. Website: <http://americanhistory.si.edu/csr/comphist/gates.htm>>Google Scholar
Sutherland, Ivan E. 1963. “Sketchpad: A Man-Machine Graphical Communication System.” Proceedings of the AFIPS Spring Joint Computer Conference. 23: 329–346.Google Scholar
“Triumph of the Nerds.” 1996. Public Broadcasting System.Google Scholar
Waldrop, M. Mitchell. 2001. The Dream Machine: J. C.R. Licklider and the Revolution that Made Computing Personal. New York: Viking Press.Google Scholar
Wallace, James and Erickson, Jim. 1992. Hard Drive: Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire. New York: HarperBusiness.Google Scholar
Wolfe, Roaslee, ed. 1998. Seminal Graphics: Pioneering Efforts that Shaped the Field. New York: Association for Computing Machinery.Google Scholar
Zachary, G. Pascal. 1997. Endless Frontier: Vannevar Bush, Engineer of the American Century. New York: Free Press.Google Scholar