The Network is the Computer

{{Short description|Information technology slogan}}

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{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2022}}

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| caption1 = Sun Microsystems originally started using the slogan in the 1980s.

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| caption2 = In 2019, the content delivery network and DDoS mitigation company Cloudflare took the rights of the slogan by registering it.

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"The Network is the Computer" is a slogan that was originally coined by John Gage for Sun Microsystems in 1984.{{Cite web|last=S. Perry|first=Tekla|date=July 30, 2019|title=Does the Repurposing of Sun Microsystems' Slogan Honor History, or Step on It?|url=https://spectrum.ieee.org/does-repurposing-of-sun-microsystems-slogan-honor-history|access-date=December 21, 2021|website=IEEE Spectrum|language=en}}{{Cite web|last=Johnson|first=Maryfran|date=September 30, 2002|title=Scott McNealy|url=https://www.computerworld.com/article/2579291/scott-mcnealy.html|access-date=December 21, 2021|website=Computerworld|language=en}}{{Cite web|last=Hughes|first=Matthew|date=July 11, 2019|title=Cloudflare acquired an old Sun Microsystems slogan and I'm feeling nostalgic|url=https://thenextweb.com/news/cloudflare-acquired-an-old-sun-microsystems-slogan-and-im-feeling-nostalgic|access-date=December 21, 2021|website=TNW|language=en}}{{Cite web|last=Yu|first=Eileen|title=VMware mobile-cloud vision stirs memories of Sun 'network is computer'|url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/vmware-mobile-cloud-vision-stirs-memories-of-sun-network-is-computer/|access-date=December 21, 2021|website=ZDNet|language=en}}{{Cite web|last=Caruso|first=Jeff|date=April 21, 2009|title=The network is the computer is the network|url=https://www.networkworld.com/article/2267816/the-network-is-the-computer-is-the-network.html|access-date=December 21, 2021|website=Network World|language=en}} Contrary to popular belief, the slogan was not coined by Scott McNealy.{{Cite web|title=IN PICTURES: Remember this? The rise and fall of Sun Microsystems|url=https://www.arnnet.com.au/slideshow/334210/pictures-remember-rise-fall-sun-microsystems/|access-date=December 21, 2021|website=ARNnet}} Wired dubbed the phrase a "truism of Silicon Valley".{{Cite magazine|last=Reiss|first=Spencer|title=Power to the People|language=en-US|magazine=Wired|url=https://www.wired.com/1996/12/esgage/|access-date=December 21, 2021|issn=1059-1028}}

Sun employee Larry Wake said of the slogan, "When Sun originated that tag line in the early 1980s, it was actually quite audacious. It was a stake in the ground [stating] ‘Computers should be networked, or they're… not computers. Well, at least, you're missing their potential by a country mile.{{' "}}