IT History Society Blog

I listened to a radio program on the subject of trap streets. Fictitious streets, towns and other pieces of geography added to a map made copying detectable, since if the other map had been independently created it could not contain these inventions, a trap. This phenomenon has come into sharp relief because of the rise of computer map systems, either on the web or through satellite based navigation systems (GPS) that have put the details of maps under more scrutiny and daily use.

This is part of a larger tactic of copyright traps in reference works like encyclopedias and trivia books. The story captured my attention, and I am writing about it here, because I am aware of a similar instance in the history of computing. Leslie J. Comrie (1893-1950) was a master maker of mathematical tables, an innovative user of digital calculators and the man who lent Maurice Wilkes his copy of the “First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC”. Comrie edited Chamber’s Shorter Six-Figure Mathematical Tables (vol. 2, 1949) and in his preface he emphasized the high accuracy of the tables noting “In no case should any greater than +- 0.52 units of the last decimal be found. Moreover, it is confidently believed that the cases where the error exceeds +- 0.51 units of the last decimal could be counted on the fingers of one hand.” (p. vii) He then continues: “those that are known to exist form an uncomfortable trap for any would-be plagiarist.” (p. vii) So Comrie also participated in this practice of laying traps for the plagiarist.

Comrie’s use of this tactic, even as he stakes his claim to accuracy reveals the tension in the creation of these traps. Key to the value of the tables is in their claim to accuracy, but the traps are errors. Comrie’s resorting to such a tactic suggests the problems of obtaining recognition and compensation for this sort of intellectual endeavour. I mention recognition because I have to wonder if any fly-by-night plagiarists lacking the imprimature of Chamber’s and Comire could really have seriously competed for sales with the original. The advent of high speed computing may have ended the problem of motivating table makers, but the problem of recognition and compensation for intellectual work is perennial.

One more thing, it is not clear how effective copyright traps actually are. In one case a man sued the makers of the Trivial Pursuit game for copying a fictitious entry (the supposed first name of the TV detective Columbo) from his trivia book (and many true entries) into a question and answer for the game. However, the court found that this did not constitute an infringement because the presentation of the (purported) facts differed.

The Computer History Museum rececntly hosted a forum with John Gertner, the author of a new book about Bell Labs. Here is the link.

Gertner discusses the many world-changing inventions and innovations that came out of the Labs, especially during its peak years of innovation from the late 1920s through the 1980s.

Among the innovations mentioned is the active communications satellite. Here in Washington we are about to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first transatlantic live television transmission, by “Telstar,” a Bell Labs development. Like fiber optics and packet-switching, other companies would come to dominate communications satellites. But Bell Labs was the innovator.  And of course, who of a certain age cannot forget that song!

During its heyday, Bell Labs was a tremedous asset to the United States, and it is unlikely that anything like it will be repeated.

PC World recently ran an interesting piece about vintage DP equipment still being used on a daily basis, for practical purposes. They even found someone using punched card accounting equipment. I don’t go back that far, but the other day I got a chuckle from a co-worker when I needed to do a simple calculation.  I pulled out my HP-41C calculator, still running great after three decades of heavy use. I don’t keep it for nostalgia’s sake; I use it because, after trying more modern devices, I continue to believe that the 41-C really hit the “sweet spot” of technology. Few gadgets can make that claim.

Then, by coincidence, someone sent me a photo of Buzz Aldrin using a slide rule on the Gemini 12 mission, flown in the fall of 1966. He later went to the Moon, carrying a 5″ slide rule.  I still have my old slide rule, but I was glad to give it up.  Some technolgies are better left behind, but that does not automatically mean that all new devices are better. I’d be interested to hear if any of you feel the same way about older electronic equipment — obsolete in terms of the technology, but not in terms of its value as a tool for human use.

By now you must know that I am fond of historic plaques, especially ones that have to do with the District of Columbia or Northern Virginia. Here’s another one, from Arlington:The full text reads:

The ARPANET, a project of the Advanced Research Projects Agency of the Department of Defense, developed the technology that became the foundation for the internet at this site from 1970 to 1975. Originally intended to support military needs, ARPANET technology was soon applied to civilian uses, allowing information to be rapidly and widely available. The internet, and services such as e-mail, e-commerce and the World Wide Web, continues to grow as the under-lying technologies evolve. The innovations inspired by the ARPANET have provided great benefits for society.

ERECTED IN 2011 BY ARLINGTON COUNTY, VIRGINIA

It is in front of an anonymous building on Wilson Boulevard in Arlington, where ARPA’s Information Processing Techniques Office was located.

Below the plaque is a string of binary numbers. I will try to decipher them and let you know.

One more piece of trivia: across the street is another plaque, commemorating the parking garage where Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward met with “Deep Throat” to get the inside story of the Watergate break-in. It was likely that ARPA researchers were developing the TCP/IP protocols at the same time (they worked late into the night) as these meetings were taking place. Which had the greater impact on history?