Brief History of Wireless Computer Networks, A

Hawaii presented a unique challenge and opportunity for those engineers and graduate students. At the time, computers were capable of being linked, but only across a computer room floor using a cable the diameter of your thumb. The only alternative was known as Sneaker net, in which data was put onto a floppy disk or tape and carried to a distant computer, presumably by someone wearing comfortable sneakers. That was inadequate for the islands, which were separated by distance and natural barriers.