A Peculiar Piece of Tech History
A highly unusual artifact from the early days of networking has changed hands at a Christie's auction. A physical data packet, which was once attached to the leg of a racing pigeon, sold for $24,600—a figure that far exceeded the initial listing price of $4,000.
From April Fool's Joke to Real Experiment
The auctioned item is a rare remnant of an experiment conducted in 2001, which sought to test the concept of an avian-based network. While the idea originated as an April Fool's joke, it gained significant traction within the Linux community, eventually leading to a genuine proof-of-concept trial.
The framed scroll, measuring just 41mm by 210mm, belonged to American network engineer David Waitzman. It represents a tangible piece of what is often cited as the slowest 'ping' in history. The live test was executed by the Bergen Linux User Group (BLUG) in Norway, with the pigeons carrying printed IP packets over a distance of three miles.
The Legacy of RFC 1149
This experiment was inspired by a satirical document written by Waitzman in 1990 titled “A Standard for the Transmission of IP Datagrams on Avian Carriers,” also known as RFC 1149. The document, which remains available online, humorously details the technical specifications of such a network:
«Avian carriers can provide high delay, low throughput, and low altitude service. The connection topology is limited to a single point-to-point path for each carrier, used with standard carriers, but many carriers can be used without significant interference with each other, outside of early spring.»
Technical Execution
In true adherence to the spirit of RFC 1149, the BLUG utilized nine racing pigeons to transport IP packets formatted in hexadecimal. The birds flew between two lofts, and upon arrival, the packets were scanned to confirm successful data transmission. While the process was repeated in reverse, only four replies were successfully returned.
The auction listing highlights the cultural significance of this event, noting:
«The RFC 1149 implementation has been described as a quintessential example of the Internet's tradition of the "artful hack," embodying the playfulness, technical ingenuity, and collaborative spirit that characterized the early Internet community.»