Named one of the greatest minds of the 20th century by Time, Tim Berners-Lee is responsible for one of that century's most important advancements: the world wide web. Now, this low-profile genius-who never personally profitted from his invention -offers a compelling protrait of his invention. He reveals the Web's origins and the creation of the now ubiquitous http and www acronyms and shares his views on such critical issues as censorship, privacy, the increasing power of softeware companies , and the need to find the ideal balance between commercial and social forces. He offers insights into the true nature of the Web, showing readers how to use it to its fullest advantage. And he presents his own plan for the Web's future, calling for the active support and participation of programmers, computer manufacturers, and social organizations to manage and maintain this valuable resource so that it can remain a powerful force for social change and an outlet for individual creativity.
If you can read this review (and voice your opinion about his book on Amazon.com), you have Tim Berners-Lee to thank. When you've read his no-nonsense account of how he invented the World Wide Web, you'll want to thank him again, for the sheer coolness of his ideas. One day in 1980, Berners-Lee, an Oxford-trained computer consultant, got a random thought: "Suppose all the information stored on computers everywhere were linked?" So he created a system to give every "page" on a computer a standard address (now called a URL, or Universal Resource Locator), accessible via the HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP), formatted with the HyperText Markup Language (HTML), and visible with the first browser, which did the trick of linking us all up.
He may be the most self-effacing genius of the computer age, and his egalitarian mind is evident in the names he rejected for his invention: "I thought of Mine of Information, or MOI, but moi in French means 'me,' and that was too egocentric.... The Information Mine (TIM) was even more egocentric!" Also, a mine is a passive repository; the Web is something that grows inexorably from everyone's contributions. Berners-Lee fully credits the colorful characters who helped him get the bobsled of progress going--one colleague times his haircuts to match the solstices--but he's stubbornly independent-minded. His quest is to make the Web "a place where the whim of a human being and the reasoning of a machine coexist in an ideal, powerful mixture."
Hard-core tech types may wish Berners-Lee had gone into deeper detail about the road ahead: the "boon and threat" of XML, free vs. commercial software, VRML 3-D imaging, and such. But he wants everyone in on the debate, so he wrote a brisk book that virtually anyone can understand. --Tim Appelo
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
An excelent book about the web history and future. This is a great book. It explains in details how the web concept evolved. I think Tim Berners-Lee couldn't tell it better. Personally, I'd never realized how such subject emerged just in a high-energy physics lab. Tim in Weaving The Web helped me to understand that. It's clear that there was no Eureka moment. The Web came from a set of rambling thoughts. Beyond history facts Tim gives us the possibility of getting the Web from a social perspective. Further, there is a interesting and curious discussion... more info
If ever a man deserved a royalty check... As one of the millions of people whose lives have changed for the better as a result of Berners-Lee's invention, I was more than happy to do my part to pad the man's checking account. Ever since Berners-Lee wrote and released the first public versions of his CERN Web server and browser programs in the early 90s, he has watched his brainchild evolve and mushroom into a world-changing technology. What's remarkable about Berners-Lee is that in the ensuing era of crazed wealth creation, he has consistently... more info
A Good Read About the Web
I love this quote from Tim Berners-Lee, the man responsible for the World Wide Web. He's a low profile genius who never profited from his invention. I often think about him when i talk to my investment banking friends, or other people who are placing monetary gain over what really makes them happy. This is a quote from his book Weaving the Web which is a pretty good read if you're interested in how the web came about, what the original thoughts were about it, and how it's survived attempts by private... more info
Thoughts on the web from the man who invented it. In a recent presidential election, Democrat Al Gore was ridiculed for "claiming" that he invented the Internet. While he was a significant player in the development of the Internet, no one can really claim to have invented it and there is a great deal of dispute over whether Gore ever really made the claim. The situation is quite different for the World Wide Web (WWW). Tim Berners-Lee did invent the WWW and there is no dispute about it. It was his vision of writing hyperlinked documents that began a... more info
Related
Sections
