|
This software and it's protocols were
released in 1991. The release of the 'Mosaic' browser, (written by Marc Andreessen
and Eric Bina) in 1993 made the WWW a mass medium.
Tim Berners-Lee is quoted on the T171
website material as saying,
"'I needed something to organise myself. I needed to be able to keep
track of things, and nothing out there - none of the computer programs
that you could get, the spreadsheets and the databases, would really let
you make this random association between absolutely anything and
absolutely anything".
Effect he had on the
Internet:
Without Tim Berners-Lee's
invention, the Internet would not be what it is today. It can now be used
as an educational tool, a games console, an advertising medium, facility
to chat to others 'live' around the world and much more. The Internet is
much more popular with the average household and work environment. Website
addresses are everywhere, in the media especially.
The Internet is even sometimes confused with the WWW in that people think
they are the same thing.
Effect he had on the PC
industry:
The WWW has made
the desktop computer not only a tool for the average person to access
information about absolutely anything, it has also allowed us to shop
'online' from the comfort of our homes and offices. Personal computers are
starting to become a popular household appliance and are expected to be
used by the majority of households in the next 5 years. Many more non-techies
are now using or learning to use computers because of the World Wide Web.
Similarities/differences
with the story of the PC:
Tim Berners-Lee's
story was similar to Vannevar Bush's article, "As
we may think" as I point out in my summary
of it.
The WWW is like a gigantic database of
information. But the information is stored and accessed in a different way
to how it is on a PC hard disk. It does not use a heirarchical tree
structure like a computer does. The WWW has live links to other sources of
information.
The PC industry was made up of inventions by groups of people working for
different companies while the World Wide Web was invented by one
individual. Like the Apple Mac story, the WWW is
here because of one man's vision.
|
