happy birthday to you
August 6, 2006 7:57 AM Subscribe
This summary does not describe the many exciting possibilities opened up by the
WWW project, such as efficient document caching
Quite a visionary.
posted by jonson at 8:03 AM on August 6, 2006 [2 favorites]
WWW project, such as efficient document caching
Quite a visionary.
posted by jonson at 8:03 AM on August 6, 2006 [2 favorites]
I disagree with calling today the 15th anniversary of the web. I mean there were already web pages and servers setup. It kind of grew organically.
posted by delmoi at 8:04 AM on August 6, 2006
posted by delmoi at 8:04 AM on August 6, 2006
And 2004's 15th anniversary.
(Doesn't matter. I still think its the most amazing thing to happen on the planet in the last fifty years or so.)
posted by merelyglib at 8:10 AM on August 6, 2006
(Doesn't matter. I still think its the most amazing thing to happen on the planet in the last fifty years or so.)
posted by merelyglib at 8:10 AM on August 6, 2006
Well, those are the anniversaries of the proposal and the creation of the tools. Surely the initial public release is more important?
posted by reklaw at 8:16 AM on August 6, 2006
posted by reklaw at 8:16 AM on August 6, 2006
First website seems to have come out in 1992. That might be the best benchmark.
posted by merelyglib at 8:37 AM on August 6, 2006
posted by merelyglib at 8:37 AM on August 6, 2006
I was on the Web in 1969, suckers.
posted by languagehat at 9:02 AM on August 6, 2006
posted by languagehat at 9:02 AM on August 6, 2006
Tim Berners-Lee's site. Archive of the world's first website. On Wikipedia. Internet users by country.
The www has been so life transforming for me, I feel incredibly fortunate to have lived to experience this spectacular resource.
posted by nickyskye at 9:04 AM on August 6, 2006
The www has been so life transforming for me, I feel incredibly fortunate to have lived to experience this spectacular resource.
posted by nickyskye at 9:04 AM on August 6, 2006
May 17, 1991 was the first day you could connect to a Web server with a Web browser, and is generally considered the date when the Web was "switched on".
posted by jjg at 9:06 AM on August 6, 2006
posted by jjg at 9:06 AM on August 6, 2006
languagehat, wasn't that the net you were on? Because the web came much later.
posted by merelyglib at 9:14 AM on August 6, 2006
posted by merelyglib at 9:14 AM on August 6, 2006
I dont think the world at large understands the difference between the Internet and the WWW honestly.
The Internet was already doing its thing (connecting people to engage in discussion and share information (usenet) and facilitating file-sharing (ftp)) well before it had a graphical interface slapped onto it.
posted by vacapinta at 9:22 AM on August 6, 2006
The Internet was already doing its thing (connecting people to engage in discussion and share information (usenet) and facilitating file-sharing (ftp)) well before it had a graphical interface slapped onto it.
posted by vacapinta at 9:22 AM on August 6, 2006
I like the tag line for this story that I read at, um, Fark:
How can you tell the Web is 15 years old today? It's obsessed with sex, lousy at spelling and grammar and pretty much does nothing
posted by LarryC at 9:25 AM on August 6, 2006
How can you tell the Web is 15 years old today? It's obsessed with sex, lousy at spelling and grammar and pretty much does nothing
posted by LarryC at 9:25 AM on August 6, 2006
This summary does not describe the many exciting possibilities opened up by the WWW project, such as free porn.
posted by Baby_Balrog at 9:36 AM on August 6, 2006
posted by Baby_Balrog at 9:36 AM on August 6, 2006
So, in summary:
November 1990:The WWW is born. Burners-Lee "invents" the web browser and the httpd server
May 17, 1991:The WWW is born. WWW access to the CERN servers was opened to the public.
August 6, 1991:The WWW is born. BL posts something to Usenet about it.
November 3, 1992:The WWW is born. The first webpage is posted.
July 14, 1999:The WWW is born. The Web finally fulfills its potential.
(I have no idea what Macworld thinks happened in December 1989. Maybe they were thinking of the start of the "fifteenth year" since the invention of the browser and server.)
posted by Plutor at 9:56 AM on August 6, 2006 [1 favorite]
November 1990:
May 17, 1991:
August 6, 1991:
November 3, 1992:
July 14, 1999:
(I have no idea what Macworld thinks happened in December 1989. Maybe they were thinking of the start of the "fifteenth year" since the invention of the browser and server.)
posted by Plutor at 9:56 AM on August 6, 2006 [1 favorite]
Carlos Salinas (at Caltech) saw the future in 1989:
What I envision for the NeXT is basically a software revolution. A giant step into the future which Jobs began by introducing window systems in the Macintosh. Imagine a machine with the power of the NeXT tied into a global information network! A Hyper system encompasing the databases of the world. True online documentation, not the parody of old world technology that the "Digital Librarian" gives us. With a HyperNeXT one could bank at home, order by Email, do research by Ethernet, run an international business, all with the ease of point and click. Click, and satellite images appear on your screen (analyze as you please, graph packages could be linked into the Hyper system). Imagine the waves this could create in the sciences, where scientists grudge through mounds of computer generated data by hand! Imagine the future! Jobs, are you aware of the potential of the machine you've created? Or are you going to push uninspiring software like the Digital Librarian, and Interface Builder (a small step yes, but lacking vision)? HyperNeXT is the future...
Miscellany- online publications (not the 2d stuff we're used to, but hypermedia) online shopping (peruse a hyper catalogue from Sears) online research (journals galore, all heavily cross indexed to give you the info you need, more time on research, less in the library) online news groups (above and beyond the limitations of RN)
posted by Heywood Mogroot at 10:08 AM on August 6, 2006
What I envision for the NeXT is basically a software revolution. A giant step into the future which Jobs began by introducing window systems in the Macintosh. Imagine a machine with the power of the NeXT tied into a global information network! A Hyper system encompasing the databases of the world. True online documentation, not the parody of old world technology that the "Digital Librarian" gives us. With a HyperNeXT one could bank at home, order by Email, do research by Ethernet, run an international business, all with the ease of point and click. Click, and satellite images appear on your screen (analyze as you please, graph packages could be linked into the Hyper system). Imagine the waves this could create in the sciences, where scientists grudge through mounds of computer generated data by hand! Imagine the future! Jobs, are you aware of the potential of the machine you've created? Or are you going to push uninspiring software like the Digital Librarian, and Interface Builder (a small step yes, but lacking vision)? HyperNeXT is the future...
Miscellany- online publications (not the 2d stuff we're used to, but hypermedia) online shopping (peruse a hyper catalogue from Sears) online research (journals galore, all heavily cross indexed to give you the info you need, more time on research, less in the library) online news groups (above and beyond the limitations of RN)
posted by Heywood Mogroot at 10:08 AM on August 6, 2006
Wikipedia sez:
In March 1989, Tim Berners-Lee wrote Information Management: A Proposal, which referenced ENQUIRE and described a more elaborate information management system. With help from Robert Cailliau, he published a more formal proposal for the World Wide Web on November 12, 1990.
A NeXTcube was used by Berners-Lee as the world's first web server and also to write the first web browser, WorldWideWeb in 1990.
By Christmas 1990, Berners-Lee had built all the tools necessary for a working Web [3]: the first Web browser (which was a Web editor as well), the first Web server and the first Web pages which described the project itself.
On August 6, 1991, he posted a short summary of the World Wide Web project on the alt.hypertext newsgroup. This date also marked the debut of the Web as a publicly available service on the Internet.
posted by reklaw at 10:19 AM on August 6, 2006
In March 1989, Tim Berners-Lee wrote Information Management: A Proposal, which referenced ENQUIRE and described a more elaborate information management system. With help from Robert Cailliau, he published a more formal proposal for the World Wide Web on November 12, 1990.
A NeXTcube was used by Berners-Lee as the world's first web server and also to write the first web browser, WorldWideWeb in 1990.
By Christmas 1990, Berners-Lee had built all the tools necessary for a working Web [3]: the first Web browser (which was a Web editor as well), the first Web server and the first Web pages which described the project itself.
On August 6, 1991, he posted a short summary of the World Wide Web project on the alt.hypertext newsgroup. This date also marked the debut of the Web as a publicly available service on the Internet.
posted by reklaw at 10:19 AM on August 6, 2006
Anyone care to take a guess what it's going to look like 15 years from now?
posted by MetaMonkey at 1:03 PM on August 6, 2006
posted by MetaMonkey at 1:03 PM on August 6, 2006
The Blue will need a smaller typeface, and far less leading between entries, to stay afloat.
posted by paulsc at 3:19 PM on August 6, 2006
posted by paulsc at 3:19 PM on August 6, 2006
I still consider the pre-web internet to be the glory days. But that's just because I'm an old 'net curmudgeon. :)
Cool stuff reklaw! It's good to remember back to the beginning of the web. I was fortunate enough to be working at NCSA back when Mosaic^ was being developed, though I wasn't working on that project. Nevertheless, it was certainly an exciting time to be working in there, and in IT in general.
posted by Brak at 9:11 PM on August 6, 2006
Cool stuff reklaw! It's good to remember back to the beginning of the web. I was fortunate enough to be working at NCSA back when Mosaic^ was being developed, though I wasn't working on that project. Nevertheless, it was certainly an exciting time to be working in there, and in IT in general.
posted by Brak at 9:11 PM on August 6, 2006
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posted by reklaw at 7:58 AM on August 6, 2006