Sir Tim Berners-Lee by Paul Clarke; Creative Commons
Happy 30th Birthday to …
The World Wide Web!
In 1989, a British scientist called Tim Berners-Lee had an idea that changed the world. Working as a scientist with CERN in Switzerland, he was frustrated by how difficult it was to disseminate information to colleagues. He made it his mission to solve this problem, and came up with a presentation: “Information Management: A Proposal”. His boss at the time called his idea “vague and exciting” … little did he know the invention would be the biggest game-changer in modern history.
This year, the World Wide Web turns thirty. For Generation Z and younger Millennials, life before The Web can be unimaginable! Funny videos of cats … memes … online gaming … e-mails … the research for your history essay … internet banking … they’re all on The Web! Today there are 2 billion websites … and 55.1% of people use the internet!
Jeff Jaffe, CEO of the World Wide Web Consortium, made a statement last week: “there are very few innovations that have truly changed everything. The Web is the most impactful innovation of our time.”
But has the advent of The Web been for better or for worse? Tim Berners-Lee penened an open letter detailing his hopes and disappointments about the state of the World Wide Web: “While the web has created opportunity, given marginalised groups a voice and made our daily lives easier,” he acknowledges, “it has also created opportunity for scammers, given a voice to those who spread hatred and made all kinds of crime easier to commit.
You can read Tim Berners-Lee’s open letter about the World Wide Web’s 30th birthday here.
Which websites couldn’t you live without?
Which animal makes a web? Why did Tim Berners-Lee choose this word?
Can you give an example of a benefit and a drawback of the World Wide Web?
CHALLENGE: Answer this question … but don’t use the internet!
- Who was the king or queen of England in 1626?
How did you find your answer? Comment below!
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20 March 2019 at 13:47
Happy 30th World Web! I guess is hard for anyone to live without the World Wed. Well me myself I'm not that crazy about it to be honest. So I don't have a site I cannot live with but it has absolutely changed my whole life and it will continue changing it thought evolution! Spiders are known for their beautiful webs. I suppose that it was named after that because all the imformation are parts of a general whole and they are connected with each other. For me a benefit is that due to the web school assessments are far earier than it used to be in the past. You click and have the information in front of you. A drawback could possibly be that in order to visit the World Web you need access on the Internet - something not always available for me at least. Well I don't have a single idea who was the king of England that period. My guess is Charles I as I recently came accross a piece of imformation related to that but the date slipes my mind. This is really difficult without World Web isn't it?
22 March 2019 at 15:26
I was born in 2003, I've lived all my live with the Internet. Now I can't imagine a world without it. If I want to talk with a friend, if I want to watch a film or if I have a doubt on something, I only have to surf the Web with my phone. Everything is easier and faster. We are connected to people all around the world (like in an enormous and invisible web), we can talk to a Chinese from Italy and chat with an American sitting comfortably on our couch. This Website is an example of this incredible opportunity: students from over 30 countries can chat and learn English together! But the World Wide Web have some drawbacks too. Every kind of person can use it, so you can meet also bad people. You can be scammed and robbed or worse. On the Web you can use a fake name so often people met on a social are not who they pretend to be. You have to be careful. Umberto Eco, an Italian writer who passed away some time ago, in an interview said: "the socials give the right to speak to lots of idiots". Indeed the Internet is a free place, everybody can speak and be listened. The problem is that the majority of the speakers are not a reliable source. Consider the Website Wikipedia: everybody use it and everybody can write on it, even if he doesn't have the exact informations. I use the socials and I often search on Google, but I try to not be influenced too much by the people I can find on the Web. Have a personal opinion in certain situations is essential.