Internet2 Update

fm6 writes "The MIT Technology Review has done a status report on Internet2, the bandwidth-intensive sequel to the Internet. What's really exciting is the way people are already using this technology: virtual nanomanipulation, online surgical procedures, even telepresence opera. Lots of interesting links."

Comments

Yeah Right

[Anonymous Coward]

Nanomanipulation? Virtual surgery? The only thing that could keep I2 alive is pr0n. And lots of it.

Preview of what's to come...

[JWhitlock]

It really does look like Internet2 is to the present Internet like the present Internet was to DARPANet (or the equivalent).

Just look - Internet2 is restricted to academics and researchers, just like the old Internet was restricted to universities and government researchers. It's being used for collaboration and "what-if" scenarios, and most that are currently involved have a good idea who the others are. They are even practicing high culture, trying out live colaborative opera.

And in a few years, it will be opened up to the public. It will become 3-D Porn, obnoxious teenagers who can't spell, bad music being traded all around, pop-up adds with full symphonic sound, and all the original users will complain about all the newbies...

Re:Preview of what's to come...

[JWhitlock]

Don't forget the FPS and MMORPG's......

I can see it now...

QUAKE 6: TELE-SURGERY ANNOUNCED

John Carmack took some time off from crusing the Autobahn for a Intenet2 Virtual Conference to announce Quake 6 (subtitled Tele-Surgery), for release in Q1, 2010.

Hallmarked as the first collaboration between a game company and a medical university, the game promises to fully realize the potential of the new Internet2 to both allow long-distance research as well as teenager-oriented ultra-violence.

For their part, John Hopkins will benefit from the improved human models introduced in Quake 5, with their fully realized internal organ structure. They will also benefit from the thousands-strong mod community, which constantly updates the Quake models for better representation of the human body. These improved representations will allow medical students to practice their craft on virtual humans, rather than cadavers or live patients.

Said one student, "I know it's extracurricular, but I'm looking forward to disecting the Jar-Jar Binks model."

For their part, ID software will get live updates from actual surgeries, to help make gibs look even better in real-time. They will also get access to the unused cadavers, for "modeling, modification, and shot-reaction research", as one programmer stated. When asked about zombie-research, the programmer stated "No Comment."

Columbine parents stated they would proactively sue the game company for future school shooting incidents by current pre-adolescents. ID lawyers stated they will not settle, but instead take it to court. "By the time this suit gets through appeals, the children in question will be in medical school, inspired into a career in medicine by an early exposure to the human body. Time will prove us correct."

At the end of the press conference, Carmack added "No, it won't run on your system."

Re:The key point...

[JWhitlock]

Almost all the benefit (including the workability of QOS) comes from the fact that they have limited who has access to the network and thus have a much higher signal-to-noise ratio. It's the internet culture of the late nineteen eighties, running on the hardware of the early two thousand naughts.

But they also have the lessons learned over the last 15 years or so of the commercial internet...

The folks that turned the web over to the world probably had no idea what would happen. Who would have thought that pretty pictures and design would be more important than content? That marketers would plague the web with spam, banner ads, and pop-ups? Who would have guessed that it would eventually have to carry live video? Who would have predicted the backlash against blinking text?

They can watch the original Internet, and plan a little to make sure they encourage good uses and discourage bad ones. For instance, they are optimizing it so "important" things get transfered more reliably than "unimportant" things, and are trying to make it work before the world gets it's hands on it.

Just a few of the possible areas for improvement:

Smarter IP addressing, both for increased number space and to help out routers (geographically based top-level numbers?)

Basic Protocols that are written assuming hacking attempts rather than optimized for sharing information

Priority transmission for time-critical applications (such as surgery).

Low-level broadcast protocols.

Micro- or Macro-payment support.

Better business models by design.

Your favorite extension here

I, for one, think it's a good thing - develop the next generation, in a real prototype state, get it 95% there, then unleash the world on it. When that's done, start on the next next-generation Internet.

We need reasons to buy more expensive hardware, anyway...

OT: Appropriate name in this article

[aredubya74]

Astronomer Charlie Telesco figures that if he can't go to the mountain, he can always bring the mountain to his monitor.

You've got to be kidding me. There's an astronomer named "Telesco"? I'm surprised they didn't interview a chemist named Fred Hydrocarbo.

The key point...

[MarkusQ]

I think the key point here is:

Though these backbones are similar to those on the commercial Internet, only about three million users can access Internet2, versus several hundred million on the public Net.

Almost all the benefit (including the workability of QOS) comes from the fact that they have limited who has access to the network and thus have a much higher signal-to-noise ratio. It's the internet culture of the late nineteen eighties, running on the hardware of the early two thousand naughts.

-- MarkusQ

More Xtreme?

[JBowz15]

I hope that the Internet2 is to the Internet what ESPN2 is to ESPN... More Xtreme!

But then again, sequels usually suck.