Happy 25th Birthday to the World Wide Web -- inventor wants to keep it free and open
You are reading this article thanks to the World Wide Web ("the web"). Also responsible is the Internet. No, the Internet and the web are not the same thing. In basic terms, the Internet is the entire network of servers and computers -- the infrastructure. The web is a way of accessing those networks -- by using a web browser.
Both are equally important, but today marks the 25th birthday of the web. Yes, this means we are all getting old. To celebrate the occasion, the inventor of the web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, has shared a blog post with Google.
"Today is the web's 25th birthday. On March 12, 1989, I distributed a proposal to improve information flows: 'a web of notes with links between them' . Though CERN, as a physics lab, couldn't justify such a general software project, my boss Mike Sendall allowed me to work on it on the side. In 1990, I wrote the first browser and editor. In 1993, after much urging, CERN declared that WWW technology would be available to all, without paying royalties, forever", says Sir Tim Berners-Lee.
Berners-Lee pleads with readers by saying, "on the 25th birthday of the web, I ask you to join in -- to help us imagine and build the future standards for the web, and to press for every country to develop a digital bill of rights to advance a free and open web for everyone. Learn more at webat25.org, and speak up for the sort of web we really want with #web25".
On behalf of the entire BetaNews staff, I would like to wish a very Happy Birthday to the web and a big thank you to Sir Tim Berners-Lee. His invention has changed the world for the better, by enabling easier access to education, entertainment, communication and more.
Do you remember the first time you used the web? Tell me about it in the comments.
Image Credit: Ruth Black/Shutterstock