Computer Freaks

At the end of World War II, U.S. military officials knew they had a problem: Military communication was a mess

- By Christine Haughney Dare-Bryan

Communiqués about Japanese landings would get mixed up with messages about what officers had for breakfast. Politics plagued the military branches. Meanwhile, the U.S. faced a new and imposing threat from the Soviet Union. So, like any entrepreneur, President Eisenhower set to work finding a solution. In 1958, his administration created, within the Defense Department, the Advanced Research Projects Agency, or ARPA, and sought the brightest minds in academia to solve its communication problems. They envisioned a future when computers talked to one another through a network-one that would enable military officials to trade tactical updates and scientists to share research. The project was called the Arpanet.

That network, the precursor to today's internet, inspired years of debate between military officials and academics about what its purpose should be and who should have access to it. Along the way, its pioneers designed the technology that now links, well, everything and ensures the security of the network worldwide. Inc. brings together six of those founders for the first time. True entrepreneurs, they took a new idea and created revolutionary change. And starting in June, on our Computer Freaks podcast, you can hear them tell their own stories.

LEONARD KLEINROCK
Smoothed the way for data

The 1960s was a good time to be a computer prof. And Leonard Kleinrock became an early beneficiary of the federal government's largess as it sought to create the network of tomorrow. "We're going to give you lots of money," he was told. "Do something great."