A new documentary exploring Collins Radio’s role in the development of the internet will premiere Nov. 1 at the Collins Road Theatre in Marion.
“The Collins Story – The Internet Connection” examines how Collins Radio Company in Cedar Rapids provided mobile radio technology for a network experiment that led to the internet’s creation on Nov. 22, 1977.
The documentary features interviews with engineers involved in the project, including Bob Kahn, former DARPA program director and current chairman, CEO and president of the Corporation for National Research Initiatives.
“We needed somebody to build the radios and Collins was clearly the gold standard choice. That’s why we picked them,” Mr. Kahn said in the film.
Bob Cattoi, Collins senior vice president of engineering, said the company entered the packet radio business through the project. “And, so, we were in on the ground floor of developing internet,” he said.
Anant Jain, a Collins project engineer on the packet radio program, noted the term “internet” wasn’t used at the time. “We, nobody, had the vision of what became of it later on,” he said.
The film will screen at Collins Road Theatres in Marion at 9 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Nov. 1. Admission is free. Additional screenings are planned around Iowa and at film festivals nationally.
The documentary is part of a series of films presented by the Arthur A. Collins Legacy Association and produced by Busbee Creative Media and Wired Production Group. The association is a nonprofit organization that collects, preserves and interprets the legacy of Arthur Collins and Collins Radio Company. More information is available at TheCollinsStory.org and CollinsAerospaceMuseum.org.
