Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!samsung!shadooby!umich!zip!spencer From: spencer@eecs.umich.edu (Spencer W. Thomas) Newsgroups: comp.org.usenix Subject: Re: USENIX Board Studies UUCP Message-ID: Date: 13 Dec 89 17:45:14 GMT References: <36700@apple.Apple.COM> <127@dumbcat.UUCP> <36766@apple.Apple.COM> <1989Nov26.001644.3176@utzoo.uucp> <93061@pyramid.pyramid.com> Sender: news@zippy.eecs.umich.edu Organization: University of Michigan EECS Dept Lines: 23 In-reply-to: meissner@dg-rtp.dg.com's message of 12 Dec 89 15:44:09 GMT You should all read the Viewpoint column in this month's CACM. John McCarthy writes "Networks considered harmful for electronic mail". He pushes development of a standard that will compete with FAX, where you can send mail to "any" telephone number, without pre-arrangement with the receiving party. Otherwise, he feels, e-mail will never "make it", since FAX is just easier. Quote: "E-mail could work the same way at similar costs [as FAX, projected to be $200/machine by 2010, and present in 50% of all homes (yes, something like 30 MILLION installations)], but because of a mistake by DARPA about 20 years ago, i.e., making a special-purpose, special-politics ARPANET network the main vehicle for e-mail, it was combined with other network uses that require higher bandwidth and packet switching. Another mistake was UUCP. It uses the telephone network, but three features inherited from its use within Bell Telephone Laboratories made its widespread adoption a blunder." Read it yourself if you want to know why. And factor his points into the "future of UUCP", if you can. -- =Spencer (spencer@eecs.umich.edu)