ADavis%SRI-KL@sri-unix.UUCP (12/17/83)
From: Al Davis <ADavis at SRI-KL>
In response to the general feeling that Gee the Japanese are good guys
and the Americans are schmucks and war mongers view, and as a member of
one of the planning groups that wrote the DARPA SC plan, I offer the
following questions for thought:
1. If you were Bob Kahn and were trying to get funding to permit
continued growth of technology under the Reagan administration, would
you ask for $750 million and say that you would do things in such a
way as to prevent military use?
2. If it were not for DARPA how would we be reading and writing all
this trivia on the ARPAnet?
3. If it were not for DARPA how many years (hopefully fun, productive,
and challenging) would have been fundamentally different?
4. Is it possible that the Japanese mean "Japanese society" when they
target programs for "the good of ?? society"?
5. Is it really possible to develop advanced computing technology that
cannot be applied to military problems? Can lessons of
destabilization of the US economy be learned from the automobile,
steel, and TV industries?
6. It is obvious that the Japanese are quick to take, copy, etc. in
terms of technology and profit. Have they given much back? Note: I like
my Sony TV and Walkman as much as anybody does.
7. If DARPA is evil then why don't we all move to Austin and join MCC
and promote good things like large corporate profit?
8. Where would AI be if DARPA had not funded it?
Well the list could go on, but the direction of this diatribe is
clear. I think that many of us (me too) are quick to criticize and
slow to look past the end of our noses. One way to start to improve
society is to climb down off the &%^$&^ ivory tower ourselves. I for
one have no great desire to live in Japan.
Al Davis
ADAVIS @ SRI-KL