Bob Alberti: "You Can Go Your Own Way” Part 1 of 2
This Week's Guest: Bob Alberti
ABOUT THIS EPISODE
Bob Alberti may be the biggest internet pioneer you’ve never heard of. During the 1970s, he was already active in many of the things the rest of the world was still decades away from using on a broad scale—network gaming, emailing, and even chat rooms. Yes, that’s right: chat rooms were a thing over 40 years ago, and Bob was there.
Still just a teen when his love for computers and networking first bloomed, Bob would end up pursuing that passion through a very tumultuous period into his early 20s that included losing two businesses, helping create the first massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), and developing an internet search system that predated—and was eventually replaced by—the World Wide Web we use today.
But Bob’s story is about more than just being at the forefront of innovation in computer tech and networking. It’s actually so extensive that we had to split this into two episodes to cover it all.
In this first episode, you’ll hear him talk about what it was like moving from Queens, NY to the lakes of Minnesota as a kid, why tech may not always make you rich, and how his adopted home state was home to the original Silicon Valley. You’ll also hear Bob discuss why the internet we know today was invented in the first place, and yes, why Al Gore definitely had a significant role in it. Whether you’re an avid gamer who now logs plenty of hours playing MMORPGs like World of Warcraft, or simply uses Google searches a few times a day, you should know that Bob Alberti had a big role in getting you there.
LINKS AND ARTICLES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
GamBit Multisystems—Bob’s company credited with developing the world’s first MMORPG, along with other commercial email, chat, and interactive games.
Solid State: Minnesota's High-tech History—A program from Twin Cities PBS documenting how Minnesota was once the global epicenter of computing. It’s free to watch!
Sdf.org—A real, living, working example of a Gopher server you can still use today
The generation you may have never heard of, Generation Jones
Ringworld, by Larry Niven
“After 32 years, dad is now grad,” article featuring Bob in the Minneapolis Star Tribune
“Sorting through electronic keepsakes: Sentimentality has turned many of our computers into ‘the new attic.’" from the Star Tribune
Bob’s t-shirt that his wife had made for him.
More About Our Guest
Information Security Architect. Pioneer of the world's 1st browser, Internet Gopher RFC1436, and 1st commercial MMORPG.
As a co-author of the Internet Gopher protocol (RFC 1436) Bob Alberti’s work creating the world's first searchable Internet browser helped foster the growth of the World Wide Web, providing for the rapid distribution of new technologies and software.
Bob created GāmBit MultiSystems, an innovative company that pioneered commercial e-mail, chat, and interactive games. GāmBit's "Scepter of Goth" game is recognized by Internet historian Prof. Richard Bartle of Essex University as the world's first commercial massively multi-user interactive online role-playing game (MMORPG).
Bob is a security architect for the University of Minnesota’s roughly 100,000 students, staff, and faculty. He holds the SABSA Institute’s Foundations certification, and the CISSP and ISSMP from ISC2.
