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MTBS Interviews Dr. Robert Cailliau, Co-Developer of the WWW

Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2008 9:39 am
by Neil
It is an honor to have Dr. Robert Cailliau joining us on MTBS today. This interview has a total of three parts. The first was printed today. As the interview segments are printed, post your thoughts and questions here because Dr. Cailliau will be answering them in a special follow-up interview. His strength is in talking about the web, but he has his opinions on the 3D industry and will share his thoughts where possible.

Regards,
Neil

Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2008 10:09 am
by Sabre2552
Wait, you say the first one was printed today? Where can we find it? I'm looking on the front page of MTBS3D but I don't see anything relating to this. I may just be missing something, though, or misunderstanding.

Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2008 10:20 am
by Neil
It's in the Interviews sections. Scroll down on the main page - you can't miss it.

Regards,
Neil

Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2008 10:28 am
by Sabre2552
Ah, I don't see it on the main page, but I went to the Interviews subsection of Articles, and found it. :)

EDIT: I found this part of the interview pretty helpful on understanding how the Internet came to be; I had never really learned about how it started as I was raised in a society that already had internet. There was a lot to read, so I didn't really spend a lot of time really understanding everything he said, but on a whole it was very informative. I can't wait to hear his opinions on stereoscopy next. :D

Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2008 11:14 am
by cybereality
Cool interview, some very interesting background there. Also, I had no idea the web was so young, for some reason I thought it was older. I got my first computer in '94 and was under the impression I was "late to the party" but it seems that was right when things were really getting off the ground. Well, I did have a C64 before that, but I didn't have a modem or know it had the capability at the time.

I think I'd have to thank Dr.Cailliau very much for his contribution to the www . I actually make my living creating content for the web and, without it, I have no idea where I'd be. Much appreciation.

Also, I thought that comment about Al Gore inventing the web was a joke. LOL!

- - -

One question for Dr.Cailliau: What is your opinion of P2P networks or protocols like BitTorrent? Do you think there is a possibility of a decentralized P2P web replacing the current client-server model?

Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2008 3:27 pm
by Neil
I don't want to spoil any of the surprises, but the second part of the interview is going to be nearly 100% about the S-3D industry, and I want to tie it in with another exciting development this month. In the meantime, based on what you have read so far, what are your thoughts on what Dr. Cailliau has said so far? Do you see some commonalities between what he went through and what our industry is going through? Are there some lessons that came through in what he has shared?

Regards,
Neil

Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2008 3:55 pm
by LukePC1
wow you created a huge amount of stuff there... Maybe it was a little to long to read it in one go, but I sort of managed...

It was interesting but also a little hard to understand for a non native speaker. Nevertheless most of the given examples were relativly easy to understand - I learned a lot about cern and creation of WWW.

question: You said of many programming languages to be 'bad'. This included C, Java and HTML... which of languages are not bad? Or is c++ now the 'good' or 'useable' language?

Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2008 4:54 pm
by android78
I'd like to say a big thanks to Dr. Cailliau for agreeing to the interview. It's nice to know that a smart guy like him will spend time to do this.
I like the fact that he's not a one-dimensional guy (pun intended) and is able to describe complex, technical processes in a way that is understandable by the average Jo (I've an engineering degree, but in Computer Systems, not in Partical Physics).
Similarly to Luke, I was interrested in the comment regarding C, HTML and Java being bad languages. Honestly, and I'll probably get some flak for this, I'm a fan of C programming. But then again, I rather enjoy using machine code for micro processor programming, there's something nice about the control you have. I also have an appreciation of the origin of these languages and they seem quite logical to me, it's probably to do with the way each persons brain is wired as to which programming language makes the most sense to an individual. Remembering that I started programming when I was about 12 on a Comador VIC20 in basic (with a tape drive!), when I was introduced to C it was a breath of fresh air.
I do wonder if the 'ideal' programming language has been invented yet, and I'd be interrested to know Dr. Cailliau's take on what features would make the ideal programming language and why? Would it be a scripted language, or more structured? (I like the structure of C... makes sense to me)

Also, I see a comment regarding the structure of Norsk Data computers with the separate Data and Program space. In the time of these computers, I believe that most programs were manually loaded into the system from an external source eliminating the potential of viruses. It has been my opinion for a considerable time that the current structure of computers is not nearly secure enough since malicious programs can access all areas of a systems memory and resources when put into the correct mode and there is no physical switch to disable writing ability to protected areas at a hardware level, only software. I'd like to have Dr. Cailliau's opinion on such an implementation in computer hardware? What is his opinion of the best way to address the issue of viruses that are spread through the internet? Is it just a case of having better programs to detect and prevent them, or is there a better way, to eliminate it at the source?

Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 3:32 am
by crim3
You said of many programming languages to be 'bad'. This included C, Java and HTML...
HTML is not a bad programming language but a bad mark-up language.
A computer with separate data and instructions memories is said to use a Harvard architecture ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvard_architecture ), in oposition to the infinetly more common Von Neumann architecture (common nowadays, in the early days of computing they were just different ways of designing a computer when nothing was already established).

Posted: Tue Jun 10, 2008 9:12 am
by sharky
wow! this interview is definetly the best.. maybe because of my love for tecnology..

that war part remebered me so much of naw.. :D

hey robert can i come at your home for a month or two? :D lol joking

really cool!

would have never thought to be writing to robert ever in my life.. :D

Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2008 12:21 am
by Neil
Now would be a good time to read the news.

Regards,
Neil

Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2008 5:59 am
by LukePC1
Yes indeed, there is a bunch of new questions and answers.

It seems like you actually can compare S-3D to the browsers...

I think all S-3D units have their advantages and disadvantages, so it might not become a product type with only one vendor/producer.

HMD's can't be used instaead of a monitor or projectors or a BIG TV... it's simply a matter of space. On the oposite you could feed all of them e.g. with interlaced input and they create a full or halve resolution S-3D image from it...

Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2008 12:38 pm
by crim3
It's good to see that now we have an independent opinion about stereo 3D with us, from what I've read at the second part.
We are all very biased towards S-3D enthusiasm (of course!) and having a neutral view of things can keep us on the ground.

Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2008 1:35 pm
by chrisdfw
I have a few questions for Dr Cailliau regarding the future of 3d gaming.

1) What can be done and who could do it to get companies to agree to a 3d hardware/software standard?

2) Is it too late to get things on track for the consumers to have the best 3d hardware/software options?

Currently, there have been more news releases in the last 6 months of new 3d monitors than in the last 10 years. Unfortunately, some of the latest news articles include announcements of "partnerships" between specific hardware and software manufacturers.

Some will argue that all of these large companies finally producing 3d solutions will only help us fans of 3d gaming. I tend to think that we are heading toward the type of HD VS Blu Ray and Beta VS VHS battles you mentioned that end up hurting the consumers. It appears we are going to have to play game X with monitor Y and stereo glasses Z instead of having a standard that will allow all games to work with all hardware.

To give you a little background, it appeared we were in much better shape 3 years ago. Nvidia had a stereo driver that would work with most available hardware solutions whether they were page flipping, interlaced, red/cyan, dual projector, or a few other methods. Shutter glases were pretty standardized and most used the same types of IR emmitters or hard wired connections.

Then, suddenly, Nvidia stopped releasing a stereo driver for a time. When they did finally release one it only supported a single manufacturer's monitor (Zalman) and the horrible red/cyan glasses. It is quite apparent that this was done for some "partnership" reason as the other 3d output options would have been just as easy to implement and benefit 99% of 3d gamers instead of just the 1% that used Zalman.

Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2008 7:14 pm
by cybereality
Nice interview, some hard-hitting questions there. I agree with most of the sentiment, but I still feel like the S-3D industry has some ways to go before it can be compared to the web. It has to be accessible to everyone, like the good doctor said, via some holographic projector or other advanced device. I think once someone comes up with the perfect 3d solution then that will become the standard. We are just not there yet.

Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 3:18 pm
by Neil
I'm going to be printing Robert's final segment soon. If you have questions or comments to add, now would be the time!

Regards,
Neil