Interview with Vinton G. Cerf --Google China

Interview with Vinton G. Cerf --Google China

Vinton G. Cerf is Sr. Vice President and Chief Internet Evangelist of Google

The silver-bearded scientist, dressed in a three-piece suit for a presentation on the Internet, is hearing-impaired and had to read the lips of reporters who asked him questions.

Cerf, a winner of the Alexander Graham Bell award, said one of the reasons he started working on the Internet project was to give the hearing-impaired an instant tool to communicate.

Worldwide there are 2.5 billion mobile-phone users, whose numbers are growing rapidly in developing countries led by China and India, the world's most populous countries, Cerf said in his presentation.

Cerf was the co-designer with Robert Kahn of the basic architecture of the Internet.

In 2005, they both received the highest civilian honour bestowed in the United States, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which recognized that their work on the software code used to transmit data across the Internet has put them "at the forefront of a digital revolution that has transformed global commerce, communication and entertainment".

The Internet has brought access to the world's information to users, introduced new business models, education services, ushered in a new advertising medium and enabled consumers to become producers, Cerf said.


Cerf's interests aren't limited to the Internet. He enjoys fine wine, gourmet cooking and science fiction

 

The Internet will become the basic infrastructure of the telecommunicating world within the next few years. It will radically change communication in the business world, between companies and between companies and customers. What's more, the Net will also increasingly invade the home sector. Not necessarily through computers, but by microchips being embedded in the most common things of everyday life, be it a washing machine or a light bulb.

These exciting developments are at least what is anticipated by Vinton G. Cerf, "The Father of the Internet", who observes the growing of his child at times with concern, at times with optimism, but always with excitement, and who as vice president of MCI continues to shape the Internet through his responsibility for the development of Internet backbones. Since the merging of the American carrier with Worldcom was agreed, Cerf has been responsible for one of the largest coherent parts of the Internet: The mega giant MCI Worldcom with a projected turnover for 1998 of about 32 billion U.S. Dollars owns more than 2000 Internet access points and dominates about 63 percent of the Internet backbone in the U.S., according to the Union of Communication Workers of America. Apart from his employment at MCI, Cerf is also a member of the executive board of the Internet Society (ISOC).

The Internet pioneer earned his "fatherhood" by developing the Internet protocol together with Robert Kahn and others after having programmed for ARPA (Advanced Research Project Agency) in 1973/74. Even the outward appearance of the by now more than fifty-year-old with his well trimmed beard and smartly tailored suit as well as his diplomatically benevolent manner mixes a daddy with a dandy. His life's work" has grown up over the years and is still being used generally unchanged in TCP/IP, even though it has to keep up with the immense growth rate of the Net. A newer version of the connection standard is, however, waiting to be implemented.

 

Update

Acknowledged the Chinese IPv6 development is in the lead USA

Mobile phones to fuel Internet growth, He pointed out that mobile phones, not personal computers, will fuel growth of the worldwide web as countries like India snap up millions of handsets monthly.

(Photo by keso)