Norman Abramson, Pioneer Behind Wireless Networks, Dies at 88 His ALOHAnet, designed a half-century ago in Hawaii, was a precursor to the technology used in today’s smartphones and home WiFi networks. Norman Abramson in the mid-1970s, when he headed a group that developed the ALOHAnet, an early wireless data network.Credit...via Rose de Heer Dec. 11, 2020 Norman Abramson, the leader of a group of scientists and engineers who pioneered the development of wireless computer networks, died on Dec. 1 at his home in San Francisco. He was 88. The cause was skin cancer that had metastasized to his lungs, his son, Mark, said.