In a recent interview with IEEE Spectrum magazine, Vinton Cerf, one of the founding fathers of the Internet, admitted to making three major mistakes in his career in pushing various Internet technologies. Cerf's mistakes are further evidence that even the most capable visionaries can be wrong in their predictions and that technology and the business world are always evolving.
The first mistake he mentioned in the interview was thinking that 32 bits would be enough for all the Internet addresses that would be needed in TCP/IP. As one of the founding fathers of the Internet, Cerf was responsible for the creation of the TCP/IP protocol, which is the basis of the modern Internet. In the 1970s, it was thought that 32 bits would be sufficient for all the Internet addresses that would be needed in the future. However, as we now know, this was not enough and the 32-bit IPv4 address has fallen short. Currently, 128-bit IPv6 is being used to allow for more unique IP addresses.
The second mistake he admitted was not paying enough attention to security in terms of encryption systems with key distribution and later public key distribution. In his interview, he said that although they were concerned about security, they did not realise the importance of encryption and the need for secure key distribution systems until later. Online security remains a major concern today, and many security experts warn of the need to be alert to potential threats.
The third mistake he acknowledged in his interview was a failure to appreciate the implications of the World Wide Web, to the extent that he did not recognise the vast amount of content that would be created or that "search engines" would be needed. Cerf said that when the World Wide Web emerged, they did not realise the amount of content it would host, and they did not realise the need for search tools to help people find the information they needed. As a result, companies like Google had to step in to solve this problem.
Despite these mistakes, the work of Cerf and his colleagues has been fundamental to the creation and development of the Internet. As one of the founding fathers of the Internet, Cerf has had an incalculable influence on the online world as we know it today. And while his mistakes may seem significant in the light of hindsight, they are also proof that even the most experienced experts can be wrong.
Source: https://spectrum.ieee.org/vint-cerf-mistakes
