← Back to context

Comment by stn8188

2 years ago

I agree that investment in the city of New Brunswick seems like a great idea for the reasons you stated. At the same time, it just feels so grand and historic to walk the same halls as the likes of Shannon, and it's a bit sad that I may not be able to see it again. (I've only visited a handful of times to work on some joint projects though). Hopefully the new lab space/equipment will be very modern and efficient though! One last thought... Traffic is gonna be a bear for anyone driving in! It was miserable a decade ago when I was at Rutgers.

12 comments

stn8188

Reply
ioblomov  2 years ago

While I’m not saying Shannon never walked the halls of Murray Hill, his publishing A Mathematical Theory of Communication in 1948 meant that he was working at the lab’s previous location in the West Village…

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_Laboratories_Building

  • jakderrida  2 years ago

    1966?? So, like, pretty much all the world-changing, paradigm-shifting revelations were in West Village?

    So, while working with Verizon, they falsely claimed it to be Basking Ridge, NJ (which they bought and boasted as the Brains of Bell to invoke a symbolic victory of sorts) until I found out they were either lying or swindled and it was another place in Jersey. Yet again, I find out from you that it was just another fake "Brains of Bell".

    Even though I feel used once again, I do appreciate your post.

    • ascagnel_  2 years ago

      Verizon’s current HQ (which is in Basking Ridge) used to be AT&T’s corporate HQ; as far as I’m aware, no significant Bell Labs work was ever done there, and Verizon has never had any legacy with Bell Labs.

      1 reply →

    • hnu234  2 years ago

      > 1966?? So, like, pretty much all the world-changing, paradigm-shifting revelations were in West Village?

      No. Unix, C, C++, etc were in nj.

      2 replies →

grepfru_it  2 years ago

NB resident here. It’s still miserable, but removing stop lights on route 18 between landing lane and the turnpike made things excellent for folks getting to somerset/piscataway!

  • vannucci  2 years ago

    NB/EB resident, has construction ever stopped in this area since 2000? I'm glad that 18 is finally (mostly) done as you say

    • grepfru_it  2 years ago

      Been running the set all my life. Construction on 18 was a long time coming, probably shaved 10 minutes off the drive to the turnpike. And I’m okay with all of the over runs to fix the runoff creating those crazy pools of water on the roadway!