Vint Cerf, a “father of the Internet”, is retiring

(techcrunch.com)

46 points | by compiler-guy 2 days ago

15 comments

  • wwind123 1 minute ago
    I still remember back in 2005 when I just joined a company, a coworker was quipping Google is not a real elite company, because it doesn't even have a Turing Award winner. I showed him the news that Vint Cerf joined Google recently.
  • Angostura 10 minutes ago
    I interviewed him a few times, when I was a tech journalist in the 90s - a very impressive man.

    However I never forget my surprise, Idly flicking through TV one evening and coming across Earth Final Conflict - and there was Vint in a fairly substantial role

  • nubinetwork 4 minutes ago
    The dude is in his 80s, he should have been allowed to retire decades ago.
  • jdw64 11 minutes ago
    How amazing it must be to be called the 'father' of something that everyone uses... I'm envious. Could I ever create something like that? As a programmer, the dream is always to build something that others actually use properly.
  • pwdisswordfishq 1 hour ago
    > a relatively good career

    What's that for?

    • lkramer 1 hour ago
      I believe it's what is called a joke. I'm with you, I don't like them either.
  • chips_not_fries 2 hours ago
    A genuine innovator

    No matter what you think of Google

  • raychis 38 minutes ago
    Thought this was about Tim Berners-Lee, he is the only father I know.
    • almost 34 minutes ago
      Father of the web sure. But HTTP is not the Internet!
      • Jaxan 0 minutes ago
        Which also shows there isn’t “one father”, multiple things (and people) had to come together.
  • croes 47 minutes ago
    Nitpicking: a father of the internet not the father. There is more than one.
    • tomhow 13 minutes ago
      Thanks! We’ve updated the title.
    • pipes 30 minutes ago
      I'm reading "where the wizards stay up late", and I was thinking the same thing. It's difficult to keep track of who is who but I'm pretty certain Cerf has appeared yet. I'm not that far through.

      https://www.amazon.co.uk/Where-Wizards-Stay-Up-Late/dp/06848...

      (Well actually I'm listening to it not reading, maybe that's why I can't keep track of the protagonists!)

  • roschdal 35 minutes ago
    Al Gore invented the internet.
    • hdgvhicv 16 minutes ago
      Al Gore pushed for public funding to make the intenet what it is before the majority of computer professionals, let alone the public, had heard of it.

      > Vinton G. Cerf, a senior vice president at MCI Worldcom and the person most often called "the father of the Internet" for his part in designing the network's common computer language, said in an e-mail interview yesterday, "I think it is very fair to say that the Internet would not be where it is in the United States without the strong support given to it and related research areas by the vice president in his current role and in his earlier role as senator."

    • tomhow 33 minutes ago
      Please don’t post snarky or low-substance comments on HN.

      As another commenter has pointed out, Vint Cerf himself credits Gore as playing a significant role in enabling the Internet’s emergence. He didn’t claim to have “invented” it.

  • TurdF3rguson 1 hour ago
    [flagged]
  • kulahan 2 hours ago
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  • cube00 1 hour ago
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  • tonyhart7 52 minutes ago
    Imagine creating internet to connect people and live to see the day that most internet traffic is Bot and AI talk to each other is fascinating

    I wonder what he feeling about it

  • kappi 2 days ago
    He made millions last 20 years at Google without doing much and just being a honorary post, not sure what he feels about BS jobs like this
    • sollewitt 2 hours ago
      Vint took what could have been a prestige emeritus position at Google and turned it into a platform to champion accessibility and “Greyglers”. The man has more class than his suits.
    • sph 1 hour ago
      Of all the millionaires in the world, I feel he’s earned a little bit of monetary recognition for his achievements.

      Had I coinvented TCP/IP, I’d gladly take a bullshit, cushy paying job in my latter half of my career as a ‘reward’