Page:Exploring the Internet.djvu/14

 they could input into their process, analyzing possible scenarios and deliberating impacts.

This is that report.

At first glance, this report looks like it would get the bureaucratic seal of approval. It is thick, for example. However, this book is something different than the bureaucrats might expect. My research methods were unorthodox: I spent most of my time talking to people.

In fact, I talked to lots of people. In three trips around the world, I talked to people on the front lines: people who make computers, people who create networks, and people who use them. To explain to the bureaucracies facts that are painfully obvious to the rest of us, I had to leave the confines of meeting rooms and fancy hotels and go into the research laboratories, network operating centers, and bars and restaurants where real work happens.

This report is thus a travel book, a book of exploration in the tradition of classic writers ranging from Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton, author of over 50 books and master of 29 languages, to Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, author of careful documentaries about political campaigns and police conventions.

Instead of exploring the Nile or Las Vegas, I looked at the emerging Global Village. This isn't a comprehensive atlas, nor is it a definitive history. Exploring the Internet really is a technical travelogue, a narrative description of the people and networks I encountered during my travels. In my visits, I saw something the ITU and the rest of the standards bureaucracy seem to have missed. The Internet is here and it is not an academic toy.

While I saw many people, I should add that even in three circumnavigations, I couldn't see everybody. This is one walk through the forest, and there are many trails one can take. This book is a selective look at some of the people, laboratories, and institutions that help illustrate the diversity and the scope of the Internet.

This voyage would not have been possible without the support of Interop Company which helped finance my travel expenses. Be aware, though, that this book is mine, not theirs. There are many opinions which are not shared by Interop Company and it is a great