25 Nov
2019
25 Nov
'19
11:29 a.m.
ARPANET wasn't the first large scale data network.
I believe SITA HLN
was world-wide by 1969. However it was a mix of switching technologies
from fully automated to manual depending on what part of the world you
were in. Frankfurt was the first SITA node to transition to fully
automatic data routing in 1966.
AUTODIN was also worldwide by the late 1960s. While it did not allow
interactivity between computers - well, back then that really was not
much of a thing - It did allow email and generic file transfer (stack
of cards - what a file was back then) between varying computer
systems.
And then there was a Western Electric system that I forget the name
of. I have one of the tape drive racks in my garage (videos of this
and my AUTODIN junk eventually)..
--
Will