While browsing one of my favorite tech-news sites, Digg.com, I found out that PREI has plans to demolish the old Bell Labs Holmdel Research Facility. While I am not old enough to have been a direct part of the historic research which was conducted at the facility, I am directly indebted to the men and women who did groundbreaking work there. Without them, I probably would not be pursuing a degree in Computer Science.

I first learned of the Holmdel Facility in my Networks class sophomore year. We learned all about cellphone technologies, network protocols, topologies and interfaces, as well as encryption algorithms. All these things were pioneered in the Holmdel Facility. Without that facility and the people inside, technology would not be what it is today. Hell, I might not be writing this entry on my blog if it weren’t for the folks in the Holmdel facility.

I think it is important that PREI looks past the financial gains which may be had at the expense of the destruction of one of the birthplaces of computing. Surely there is a fate more suited to such a historic site. It has been suggested that the site be converted into a technology and computing museum, or used to house offices for new technology companies. Sadly, this is probably a fate the site will never see.

Link: http://www.engadget.com/20…ace-of-the/