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Vint Cerf Wants Help Figuring Out the Future of the Internet and Communications

dkatana writes: Vint Cerf, one of the original creators of today's internet, wrote a letter asking everyone to participate to create the foundation of the next internet. He said, "As communication forms evolve, it will be important to preserve one of the oldest: the letter, which has been critical in building relationships, conducting business and governmental affairs, and preserving history. Rather than sounding the death knell for meaningful, written correspondence, Internet technology has the power to enhance it." Cerf cites Doris Kearns Goodwin's book Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln as a perfect example of what might not be possible for historians of the next generation. Goodwin pieced together letters written by President Lincoln and his cabinet to write a book about how they interacted. "In the case of Doris Kearns Goodwin, the letters were 140 years old, and I would guess that digital content that was created 10 years ago won't be accessible 10 years from now," said Cerf. "We have the media around, but you may not be able to read it."

2 of 73 comments (clear)

  1. Integrated government backdoor by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    To help secure our freedom in these trying times.

  2. the man sold his soul to google a long time ago... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

    Vint Cerf sold the internet's soul to Google (and the cia/nsa) a long time ago. The unspoken rule of his propped up version of 'Network Neutrality' was "Google's server's advertisement and tracking traffic shall be blessed, while your home server traffic which might detract from Google's server's dominance shall be shit upon by greedy fucking corporation's terms of services and acceptable use policies."