The Invention That Made the Internet Possible
In this episode of ScienceLive, he tells the complete story for the first time, in his own words. It starts with a problem. J. Willard Marriott, founder of the Marriott Hotels empire, had 12 of IBM’s largest mainframe computers — the biggest the company made — and they still couldn’t keep up with reservation demand. IBM told him a 13th machine would crash the entire system. He needed a solution that didn’t exist yet. Dr. Billings invented one.
His concept was elegantly simple: instead of every computer trying to talk to every other computer simultaneously, create a dedicated “library” computer — what we now call a server — that any number of users could query independently. The result was a system that could scale to an unlimited number of users without overloading. He called it Universal Networking, patented it as U.S. Patent No. 4,714,989, and proved it worked by installing it at real businesses around the world using the Billings Microcomputer — one of the earliest personal computers ever built.
Today, every website, every app, and every internet transaction runs on this same client-server principle.
This is the story of one of the most important and least-known inventions of the 20th century — told by the man who invented it.
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This was awesome
I love watching science lives!!
I like the robot that works with air.
What made you start this program and why didn’t you quit when it got hard and great video by the way.
Loved the info about the internet, its so hard to fully comprehend how big it is
So cool to see how far internet has come!
WOW!! So cool to watch Science live!
I like how it has different parts fun!!
I can’t wait for the science fair!
Great science live today!
I’m surprised how Roger Billings has made multiple amazing inventions! The Hydrogen Car, the foundation that the internet is based on, even Acellus.
How expensive would it be to make a computer possible of running a high textured game, that’s the size of a regular phone, at a solid 60 frames?
Can’t believe this all started in 1978!
Hope everyone had a Happy Easter! Bulova watch company from New York had the idea to use a tuning fork in one of the watches thet they made. The watch was called the Acutron watch and it actually had a vibration to it. They didn’t end up keeping it that way, but that was when a tuning fork was first used in a watch.
I loved re-learning about the tuning fork inside the watch! It’s so cool to know how our clocks and watches now hold much better time than before.
This episode has been very informative.
Could it be possible to ride the air powered robot?
I’m thankful for having the opportunity to learn in Acellus and for watching science lives.
It would be environmentally friendly if we could invent pneumaticlly powered cars too.
I was wondering if there is a current practical applications of the pneumatic robot?
Wow, computers are amazing
how cool! i really liked the tiny robot!
This is crazy how computers have came so far from the past to now
That computer was so fast.
We would be lost without the Internet!
thankyou Br. Billings for all of this incredible knowledge its so crazy how things have changed over time.
This was a really interesting topic and I loved getting to learn more!
I don’t understand how we could get any more advanced than we already are. Love this topic!
I find it fun to learn about math and science every day.
I use the internet all the time i cant imagine what tech would be without it!
I love Science Live! The internet is amazing!
It’s so much fun watching these science live videos
The internet is really awesome
So excited for this weeks live!
I didn’t even know robots could move with different forms of technology without the use of wires. That’s amazing to know!
this was an amzing science live I am disappointed because we missed the protooges this week
hello from alabama
LOVEDD IT!
Awesome video thank you!!!
The internet is so different in many ways because you can literally do anything thats on your mind and create something big
your the best inventer
Wow that’s so awesome!
what’s you’re second favorite invention
How long did it take to invent the computer?
Always a great time to sit down and watch one of these fantastic lives!
excited to see tonights video on the internet and what you can do with it.
It’s crazy how different crystals react to things
science is so amazing! I want to be a scientist when i grow up!
I love how he explained it in his own words
The evelution of computers is so fascinaiting.
The robot that runs on air was crazy, thats like unlimited energy. It made me think why cant we run a car off of air? But theres not enough energy there and they would use up too much air.
this was one of my favroit livesss
Thank you for inventing it!
😉
So cool definitely one of my favorites!
Happy science live!
The computers and the beginning of the internet are so interesting! Although it’s unfortunate it lead to a law suit in the end.
Roger billings is so cool
It’s pretty cool how there’s a robot that doesn’t need electricity to run, even if it doesn’t do much.
It would be really cool if we could have robotic vehicles that run on compressed air
The computers were so interesting! Although it’s unfortunate it lead to a law suit in the end.
dr. Billings you’re my favorite.
this is great
this is so cool
WOWOZA THE FACT MR.ROGER MET THE OWNER OF THE MARRIOT HOTEL IS SO KEWLL:)) Mr rogers is so cool:))
Loved this science live! I always look forward for science live nights
How many inventions have you exactly made, Mr. Billings?
what are some things you can use nomadic for?
I really enjoyed this science Live.
I do not remember no internet!
How long did it take for you to make the hydrogen car?
That was so cool how they can actually manipulate the air so it help the 3d printed object move, it looked as if it was being controlled with a controller
The internet has played such a huge part of people’s lives for so long, it’s so interesting learning things about it that’s I haven’t known before.
Wow, this episode was great!
I absolutely love Acellus!!!
It’s amazing how far we’ve come with 3D printers! I would have never imagined a robot run on air would exist.
its crazy how the internet is even possible, great as always!
I love science live!
It is insane to me how far we have come with internet, but it is also sad to think that not everyone has access to the internet 🙁
The WiFi password “It’s on the fridge” is hilarious!!! This is my very first time watching Science Live btw
looking forward to tonights video on the internet.
I really enjoyed learning how the internet started. To me, it’s always been there. Learning it’s origin makes it easier to understand
i love how everything is explained really well.
love Dr B
Yayyyy science live
I loved learning about your greatest invention! It was incredibly interesting!
Dr billing is the best
I love science night lives
The internet is really amazing and reliable to create and learn.
I Love Science Live.
I love science live sooooo much!
why is the earth round
i love acellus
Everyone Loves The Internet!! good or bad?
I love Internet and it’s so useful. You can use it for basically anything nowadays.
I loved this live can’t wait for next weeks live.
R-51 was so funny, almost all his inventions had Lady Pajea on them! ( FYI my favorite ice cream in Coffee ) I can’t wait for the next one!
The invention of watches has definitely benefited us as a society. It’s also interesting that watches can be adjusted whenever daylight savings time happens!
this was explained really thoroughly, thank you!
Such an amazing story about the invention and patent you had that impacted how data is shared
Thank you for another fascinating episode!
loved listening to this. it was so interesting!!!
Super interesting video this week!!
So cool watching this and seeing how it all started!
hope y’all have a good weekend!
Its very interesting learning about how Seiko Astron was the first ones to make a watch of quarts.
i love this thank you!
How do you get the ideas?
Before I watched this I had no clue about any of this, and now im so amazed with all of this. It so blows my mind!
Comment How many students signed up for the science fair?
This was so interesting! Thank you!
Very nice!
I was so surprised to hear that Dr. Billings invented something so foundational to something we all rely on heavily today.
I have lot of clocks in my house.
Really cool episode:)
I was so excited to see the tuning fork on Science Live today because we have them at home. I never would have thought that you could use them to make a small watch work!
Science lives are so awesome!
Science live always surprises me! 🙂
So amazing!!
Another great episode!
this video was amazing
It was very interesting.
Science live is amazing every week!
Thank you
The internet has had an astounding impact on the world.
LOVE IT!!
Thanks for this week’s Science Live !
Who is the main manufacturer of 3d printers?
Loved this episode!!
Hearing Dr. Billings talking about students who do not commit to their learning makes me take my education seriously understanding how investing in my future is the best I can do.
I liked the part about putting a small tuning fork in a watch to make it work. We have frequency forks at home that look just like the one they showed on the show!
I rely on the internet to be able to go to Acellus!
Thank you for explaining everything so well and making it easy to understand
It was interesting to hear about how you helped invent the way we use computers today. It liked the history of how you started all the different schools
I love science lives so much!
This is cool.
hello from al
i love this
It’s awesome learning how the internet was made possible.
I feel like the internet was one of the greatest and worst things for humanity, it showed us alot of truth and gave people alot of power.
thank you for the scholarship!
love the vids
I loved learning about how the internet started! So interesting.
We use the internet to research so many projects ideas!
I had no idea about the tuning fork in the time piece. It’s so fun to learn all these interesting facts about things we use and see everyday! It’s crazy to see how far we have come in even such a short amount of time! Love the haircut Tobias!
The last part made me laugh.
hello from cali
I love Acellus!!
I love the robot that moves using only air. Super impressive.
The tiny robot was amazing
I know that’s r•51’s best invention but what is Roger billing’s best invention
it’s amazing how crucial universal networking was to the current rendition of the internet! Without Mr Billings, I think we may have been a few decades behind at the least
the internet is so interesting because you can do anything you can think of.
I loved this episode I love learning about this stuff
Super interesting to think about how if we never had the internet the would would be completely different!
Keeping time years ago people used hour glasses. Bulova came up using a tuning fork for telling time in watches. In the 1800s the Curie brothers discovered using crystals for voltage. In the 1920s Warren Marrison studied putting voltage back in crystals to make watches work.
I think it’s cool that researchers at Edith Cowan University have found that just five minutes a day of eccentric exercise could dramatically change someone’s life.
Love all this science stuff. learning lots from this
Thank you!!
Great episode!
wow so coll
Very fascinating video!
Loved it thanks!
Dr. Billings is awesome!
I’ve never thought about the mechanics and importance of keeping time. Thanks for the amazing part Tobias!
Amazing video! See you next week.
It’s crazy how much the internet has advanced and how many things you can do on it.
I enjoyed this episode!
That’s awesome.
super interesting concept
thank you from idaho
Woohoo for the internet!
Love thissss!!!
I love the internet so i can be able to do my classes online.
A fascinating video!!!
How can you be able to make a robot that uses air to move?
Watching from Virginia!