“I also explore the social and cultural forces that provide the atmosphere for innovation. For the birth of the digital age, this included a research ecosystem that was nurtured by government spending and managed by a military-industrial-academic collaboration. Intersecting with that was a loose alliance of community organizers, communal-minded hippies, do-it-yourself hobbyists, and homebrew hackers, most of whom were suspicious of centralized authority.” Excerpt From: Walter Isaacson. “The Innovators.”

It's harder to see these roots now, but for a long time military-industrial competitiveness was a huge driver of advancement in the field