But 30 years ago, humanity gave birth to one of the most disruptive forces of
our time. On Jan. 1, 1983, the implementation of TCP/IP -- a standard protocol
to allow computers to exchange data over a network -- turned discrete clusters
of research computers into a distributed global phenomenon. It was essentially
the work of three men: two engineers to write the protocol, and one to carry
out the plan. It was a birth so quiet no one even has a photo of the day; a recent post by one of TCP/IP's authors, Vint
Cerf, was able to turn up only a commemorative pin.