Article Response — "Hypertext and Our Collective Destiny"

As part of an assignment, I was asked to respond to questions from an article which detailed a talk given by Tim Berners-Lee on October 12, 1995 titled "Hypertext and Our Collective Destiny":

1. What did Berners-Lee think the internet would be used for?
   Berners-Lee imagined that the web would be a "warm, friendly environment" where everyone was "working on [better understandings] together." His dream was that everyone would "[work] from day to day using the web as their notebook, mailer and calendar... ."


2. Who were the first users of the web?
   According to Berners-Lee, web work was triggered specifically by team management and collaborative projects where people's budgets wouldn't allow them to travel.


3. What is the role of w3.org?
   In 1995, Berners-Lee seemed to see the w3.org as a restriction, not necessarily as a place where standards of web practices developed. It is now, arguably, a respected source and the immovable force behind contemporary web standards and practices.


4. What is the potential of the internet today?
   In 1995, Berners-Lee saw potential in the internet as a way to "bring collective teamwork up to a level at which we can ensure our survival." Today, it might be his dreams have come true with countless web applications, like 37 signals' project management tool Basecamp and social networking sites like Facebook.

Favorite quotes from the article:

"Web objects, people and neurons all have the ability to have random associations. The neurons seem to work (on a good day) as a integrated team. The people do in parts. The web documents just sit there."

"But pretty soon the web documents will start getting up and wandering."

"We engineer the microscopic rules in the hope that the end result will be a macroscopic effect that will satisfy us."

"Perhaps as the web grows we will be able to see fractal structure emerge in its interconnections."