I'd say ARPA gets a lot of the early blame, but that may be
unduly US-centric. Sir Tim's proposal  certainly pointed the
way.

U of Hawaii had an "intranet" of sorts in the early 80s, for those
with modems & moderate expertise...  The first time I got into the
wider world was 1989, courtesy San Diego State - IIRC the most
exciting stuff going were all the files on Monash U's server!
--=20
http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive
View/change your membership options at
http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist
.