Underlying Forces, Unforeseen Consequences, and the Internet's Future
A Luncheon and Discussion with Internet Pioneer and Author Glenn Kowack
Wednesday, December 10th, 2008
11:30am - 11:45am. Check-in.
11:45am - 1:00pm. Luncheon, Speaker Talk, and Q&A.
Computer History Museum. 1401 North Shoreline Blvd., Mountain View, CA
Register Online
Technology evolution is an interesting subject for business people to consider. Reflecting on past innovation provides perspective and insight on how current technology trends might evolve, thereby providing "how to" strategies: "how to" manage a career, invest as an angel, or diversify one's stock portfolio.
Join MBA's in the technology community as we are informed about unanticipated and contingent influences on the evolution of the Internet:
Some years ago I read an 1880s-era newspaper article about one of the first demonstrations of long-distance telephony. The reporter wrote, "What might this new device be used for? Well, people at a party in Manhattan might call people at a party in New Jersey. Or, a young man might use the telephone to 'pop the question' to his true love."
When the telephone was first deployed, many had difficulty seeing its value. Life and work were linked to the infrastructures of the time: Markets were local, and modern cities were densely constructed so that related businesses were near one another. How could the telephone compete with other technologies?
From our vantage point, one could easily assume that the Internet followed a deliberate, highly rational, and even obvious path from its beginnings to today's dominant networking technology. Many explicit goals and plans were in fact realized on the way to our ubiquitousr commercial Internet. Yet, time after time, unanticipated factors--some inherent in the technology and some external--produced powerful and unexpected effects on its evolution.
Once commercial Internetworking took off, professionals found trying to navigate the big networking picture deeply confusing. So many fundamentals and particulars changed so quickly--and often unexpectedly--that it was exceedingly difficult to know what was going on and what direction to take. Perhaps the most confusing change was from engineer to entrepreneur, which could be both heady and disorienting in what was, for a surprisingly long time, an MBA-free and lawyer-free zone. [Excepted from Glenn Kowack, ACM Interactions, January 2008.]
In a world where even "experienced" Internet-oriented businesspeople have been in the business for only 10-15 years, a person with a 30-year personal perspective on the Internet's evolution is rare. Glenn Kowack, a pioneering entrepreneur and author, will bring that 30-year perspective as he discusses with us the evolution of the Internet, what we can learn from the evolutions of past mass communication technologies, and what the future holds for us.
Join the Wharton Club of Northern California and HBSTech, the Harvard Business School Technology Alumni Association, for a luncheon on Wednesday, December 10th with author Glenn Kowack.
Register Online
Date: Wednesday, December 10th, 2008
Time: 11:45am-1:00pm Luncheon and Speaker Discussion
Location: Computer History Museum. 1401 North Shoreline Blvd., Mountain View, CA 94043
Cost: WCNC Members and their accompanied guests. $25 per person. Non-member alumni and other guests: $45 per person. Members of affiliate clubs, $25 per person. Registration open only until 3:00pm, Monday, December 8th; no day-of-event registration available for this event.
Glenn Kowack
Glenn was the founding CEO of EUnet Europe's first commercial and multinational ISP, which sold to Qwest Communications for $155 million in 1998. He brings experience from 30 years of developing, running, founding, advising, and funding start-ups, before and with venture capital, pre- and post-bubble, in California, Illinois, Michigan, New York, the Middle East, across Europe, and from setting up global Internet institutions. Glenn has been founder and CEO of Netnostics and venture-backed NextHop, and he was a board member of the Commercial Internet exchange, Ebone (European Backbone network), CompassWare Development, and Champaign-Urbana's own WEFT Radio / Prairie Air. He has been a Vice President of The Internet Society, a member of the Policy Oversight Committee (which led to the formation of ICANN), and an angel investor in GiftWorld and Privasys. He currently advises ICANN, Privasys Singapore, and Billing Revolution.
About the Computer History Museum
The Computer History Museum (CHM) in Mountain View, Calif., is a nonprofit organization with a four decade history. The Museum is dedicated to the preservation and celebration of computing history, and is home to the largest international collection of computing artifacts in the world, encompassing computer hardware, software, documentation, ephemera, photographs and moving images.
CHM brings computing history to life through an acclaimed speaker series, dynamic website, onsite tours, as well as physical and online exhibits. Current exhibits include "Charles Babbage’s Difference Engine No. 2," "Mastering the Game: A History of Computer Chess," "Innovation in the Valley" -- a look at Silicon Valley startups -- and the unique "Visible Storage Gallery," featuring over 600 key objects from the collection. Daily self-guided and docent tours. No entrance fee.
A signature "Computer History: The First 200 Years" exhibit will open in the fall of 2010.
For more information, visit www.computerhistory.org or call 650-810-1010.
