Ethan, you're just too kind!

Chapter 53 Ethan, you're just too kind!

The barrage of questions left Ethan somewhat bewildered.

He frowned and scratched his head, wondering why his sister was suddenly so agitated.

But after making eye contact with Evelyn, Ethan suddenly understood.

He realized that he seemed to have forgotten something.

Forget that Evelyn is an engineering student, an engineering student who gets to touch computers at Stanford.

Yes, in Ethan's opinion, the only thing that could make Evelyn furious was product 6502.

After all, in this day and age, everyone who studies computer science wants to own a computer.

The emergence of inexpensive CPUs means that these tech-savvy individuals can achieve their dreams with their own hands.

He discovered the product, but did not buy it.

Oh—he did indeed overlook some things.

Thinking of this, Ethan's face lit up with a smile again, and he said, "Okay, okay, this is my fault. I forgot to order it for you after I found the cheap and good chips. I'm sorry about that."

"I'll call them right now and have them mail it to me."

Ethan didn't try to deny it and immediately admitted his mistake.

His honesty, however, made Evelyn raise her eyebrows.

"Ethan!" the girl exclaimed in surprise, "Don't you understand what I mean?"

"? 』

Ethan's mouth gaped slightly, somewhat puzzled.

He admitted his mistake and was prepared to make amends, so why is Evelyn still unhappy?

Evelyn's bewildered expression made her raise her hand in anger and forcefully poke his chest with her right index finger.

"Are you an idiot?"

"This isn't about buying chips or not; it's about helping or not helping!"

"The MOS company you mentioned, Chuck Patel, the inventor of 6502, and his team need help! Legal help!"

"Why didn't you tell me about something this big as soon as you got back?"

!!!

Ethan blinked as he heard his sister's question.

His surprise only fueled Evelyn's anger, and her voice rose sharply—

"Oh my God! You don't seem to have any intention of helping at all?"

"Chuck Patel and his team are doing something truly great! They want to bring computers to every home! They're even willing to go against Motorola for that! Given that, when they encounter difficulties, don't you even have the slightest thought of helping them?"

"I thought you told me about this so I could go to Barbara and ask her for advice!"

"But you—"

"You...you think I only want 6502?"

Evelyn stammered.

That's angry.

Staring at the hands waving in the air and the excited figure, Ethan opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a sound for a long time.

Because he felt as if he understood Evelyn's meaning and her thoughts, or rather, he glimpsed a spirit in Evelyn, a spirit called knowledge sharing and technology sharing.

In fact, the spirit of sharing is not a product of the Internet age. This concept of selflessness was already widespread in scientific research circles before the Internet arrived.

Take Jonas Salk, for example. He invented the polio vaccine, which eradicated polio.

But he gave up the patent application in order to save lives.

Sometimes, ordinary people really can't understand what these big shots are thinking.

But the world is indeed made more wonderful because of the existence of these people.

"Okay, okay, I think I understand what you mean."

Ethan sighed, chuckled, and nodded, "Okay, I admit, my mind is indeed full of business ideas."

"Just as you think, I really didn't intend to help them, because I felt that according to their philosophy, even if I helped them, I wouldn't be able to obtain the exclusive license for 6502."

"You may look down on me, but... I don't think I need to lie to you about something like this."

"Yes, I am that pragmatic."

Ethan's honesty left Evelyn stunned for two seconds.

As she began to mock herself, her gaze softened.

Her body went limp, and she leaned back against the comfortable sofa, which softened her voice. "Ethan, you still don't understand what I mean."

"Um?"

I didn't mean to criticize you.

"Really?" Ethan didn't believe it.

"Of course," Evelyn laughed, "because I know that all research and development requires money. If the results of research don't yield the expected returns, how can such expensive research projects continue?"

This question made Ethan relax, his eyes narrowing as he asked, "So what do you mean?"

"What I mean is very simple," Evelyn said. "We may not be that noble, we may not be able to be selfless, but we should support others when they want to give, and we should do our best to help them when they are in trouble."

"You might think my idea is very naive, because helping others change the world won't make you famous."

"But... I want to tell you that when you help others, you are also helping yourself."

Ethan pursed his lips upon hearing Evelyn's idealistic words.

He didn't know how to respond.

Just as he was gathering his thoughts, Evelyn said, "Don't you think my idea is ridiculous?"

"No," Ethan shook his head decisively, saying, "Everyone has their own beliefs, and that's their freedom."

"You've misunderstood," Evelyn shook her head. "Let's put it another way. Do you want to know why I have this thought?"

This question intrigued Ethan. "Of course, if you'd like to talk about it."

"Oh—I have nothing I can't tell you—as long as you don't find me long-winded—" Evelyn said with a smile, "Actually, a year ago, or a year and a half ago, I thought the same as you."

"If this matter has nothing to do with me and doesn't bring me any benefit, why should I get involved?"

"But a year and a half ago, something happened that completely changed my mind."

Do you know what a wide area network (WAN) is? It's the telephone network, a network made up of telephone communications.

"It's what the military uses."

"This thing may have been a good invention when it was first created, but it is outdated in this day and age. For example, it is slow and easily destroyed. So, in order to ensure uninterrupted communication during war, ARPA wanted to develop a network that could withstand nuclear deterrence."

"As for why there is such a demand, I think I don't need to explain that, do I?"

"Suwei loves," Ethan interjected.

"Yeah~" Evelyn nodded with a smile.

She continued, "And with the research of scientists, ARPANET emerged."

"This is an ARPA-led project that enables computers to be connected together for data transfer."

"I don't know if you can understand this kind of thing, because it's confidential and rarely reported in the media. I can only tell you that ARPANET is amazing. It can break down a piece of information consisting of letters into data packets, send them to where people want them to go, and then reassemble them at the other end to achieve efficient data transmission."

"It was officially put into use in 69. Initially, there were four nodes, located at UCLA and UC Santa Barbara, the University of Utah, and Stanford."

"Because the four nodes are also easily destroyed, in the following years, schools and institutions such as MIT, Harvard, Carnegie, and NASA joined in."

"While this addition made data transmission seem more secure, it also created a problem: ARPANET was originally designed as a homogeneous environment, where computers could only transmit data if their network components and languages ​​were the same or compatible."

"It is obviously impossible to get all schools and institutions to agree on the same computer system and computer language."

"Therefore, in order to ensure that data can be transmitted normally, ARPA can only try to solve the data transmission problem between different machines and different languages."

"And this problem was solved at Stanford a year ago."

"You know Professor Vinton, right? He's the one I mentioned to you before. He and his partner Robert Kahn solved this problem together."

"They invented a new technology called the TCP/IP protocol, which successfully linked different types of computers and operating languages ​​together. Last December, they conducted an experiment in which a data packet traveled 60,000 miles and successfully arrived at a computer whose machine type did not match the one that sent it."

"In fact, once things have come to this point, all they need to do is continue to research and refine them, and then they can submit the project application to ARPA and that's it."

But they didn't.

"Do you know why Mr. Vinton keeps looking for Barbara?"

"Because he believes that the TCP/IP protocol can change the world."

"When computers on the market cannot be standardized, the TCP/IP protocol, which can guarantee unified communication, is the key to connecting everything."

"He didn't want to hand over the patent to ARPA; he wanted to keep it for himself."

"If one day in the future ordinary people need to use it, they will directly grant authorization."

Upon hearing this, Ethan's face was filled with surprise.

Evelyn continued—

"Do you know how shocked I was when I found out that Professor Vinton wanted to go against ARPA?"

"But he told me that many things have to be done by someone."

"And what surprised me even more was Barbara's reaction when she heard about Vinton's request."

"Because Barbara agreed without even thinking about it."

"Later, I asked Barbara why she agreed so readily."

"Barbara told me there were two reasons: one was that she genuinely admired Vinton, his ideas and methods; the second was that helping Vinton was helping herself."

Evelyn paused, then sat up straight again and said seriously—

"Ethan, you're saying you're a snob?"

"Oh—in my opinion, you're far inferior to Barbara."

"You lectured me in front of Barbara that day?"

"And Barbara even praised your actions?"

"Haha~ I dare say that if you tell her your thoughts from just now, your idea of ​​not helping Chuck Patto, she will definitely be very disappointed in you."

"Because, after she told me that helping Vinton was helping herself, she explained the reason in a self-deprecating tone."

"She helped Vinton change the world today, and if she runs into trouble tomorrow, Vinton will definitely use all his connections to help her. Because a selfless person who wants to change the world by sharing patents would never abandon a friend in distress."

"At the same time, she helped Vinton change the world today, and if anyone else wants to change the world tomorrow, they will definitely come to her. And people who have the ability to change the world are the best social resources in the world."

At this point, Evelyn leaned forward, stopping only when their noses were just an inch apart.

The girl stared at Ethan, a look of emotion flashing in her beautiful eyes, and her words carrying a hint of joy.

Do you think the biggest benefit is the licensing of patent 6502?

"Ethan, you're so kind compared to those who play the law..."

Note: ① Some people guessed earlier that Vinton Cerf is indeed the inventor of the TCP/IP protocol. He was an assistant professor at Stanford University in 75 and did indeed teach courses. ② Barbara Babcock was indeed a very good person at networking. As mentioned before, Ginsburg, who praised her, was actually recommended by Barbara to become a Supreme Court Justice, just like Wang Gang of MAGA. On the day Barbara passed away, the New York Times directly quoted Ginsburg in its obituary: "I would not hold the good job I have today were it not for Barbara."

P.S., I'm not a computer science major, so please point out any errors in this chapter's description of ARPANET or the TCP/IP protocol.

(End of this chapter)