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====== A Short History of GlobalTalk ======
==== AppleTalk Beginnings ====
In the beginning (1984)…Apple Computer, Inc. introduced the Macintosh and changed everyday computing forever with its accessible GUI.

A year later, Apple introduced AppleTalk, its new networking protocol, and LocalTalk, its new networking connection hardware, for connecting Macintoshes, Lisas, Apple IIs, and LaserWriters (plus the occasional IBM PC-compatible via an ISA expansion card, released in 1987).

Plug-and-Play had come to networking with the introduction of AppleTalk, and with no configuration, a network of devices could auto-negotiate its own network topology. AppleTalk “zones” could be connected via hardware bridges to connect, for example, computers in different company departments.

In the following years, EtherTalk (AppleTalk over Ethernet), Token Ring support, AppleShare (Apple’s network file server implementation), and, perhaps most importantly, AppleTalk Phase 2 were released.

AppleTalk Phase 2 took network configuration from a hardware-based model to more of a software-defined model, and increased the number of nodes supported per segment to 253.

Networks could be joined via remote connections, zones could co-exist on single physical networks, and software such as Apple Internet Router allowed AppleTalk network administrators to connect networks around the globe via EtherTalk and Token Ring networks, with little need to consider underlying network transport protocols or hardware transport layers.

AppleTalk was abandoned by Apple with the release of Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard in 2009, with non TCP/IP AppleTalk connections unavailable from Mac OS X v10.4 Tiger.

====GlobalTalk—a phenomenon 40 years in the making====
In preparation for MARCHintosh 2024, several Apple retrocomputing enthusiasts (principally @paulrickards, @billgoats, and @vga256) worked on establishing connections between their AppleTalk networks over the Internet in the second half of February 2024.

After trying several solutions, they settled on Apple Internet Router, and made their first successful connection at the end of February—other nodes started joining the nascent GlobalTalk “internet” in early March 2024.

In short order, numerous retrocomputing enthusiasts expressed a desire to connect, a coordinating spreadsheet was created, and nodes began appearing from around the world.

Some enthusiasts had physical Macintoshes which were compatible with Apple Internet Router, while others relied on emulated machines.

Whichever type of machine acted as the primary AppleTalk router for a node, by the end of the month, it was not uncommon to see over 50 nodes connected at any one time.

And the machines “behind” those AppleTalk routers ranged from original Macintoshes, Lisas, and Apple IIs, to modern clones, virtualised systems, Windows servers, and printers by the truckload (dot matrix, inkjet and laser).

Some nodes, such as my own, had no original hardware in place—only virtualised computers and modern printers.

However, the joy of connecting to such an antiquated system which proved to be robust and relatively easy to set up, was shared by all node administrators, even if there were occasional hiccups.