Weaving the Web

World Wide Web founder and creator Tim Berners-Lee’s memoir, Weaving the Web, delves primarily into Berners-Lee’s rationale behind the creation of the web, and what he hoped his invention would do to better humanity on a global scale. His vision was that the Internet would be a source of social change and creativity for a myriad of individuals. While Berners-Lee has never profited from his invention, he does spearhead an international organization geared toward maintaining the Internet’s continued health and growth. Among the wealth of knowledge provided about the web’s infancy, Weaving the Web follows the creation of the Internet from its origins through the period of time that saw the development of well-known acronyms such as WWW and HTTP. As head of the World Wide Web Consortium based at MIT, Berners-Lee is able to provide the reader a unique perspective on how far the web has come, and the work yet to be done.

At the outset of the book, the author takes readers back to the late 1980s when Berners-Lee wrote the first lines of code, setting up the software standards for the web. His design allowed millions of users to hyperlink to other computers around the world. It was a bold move, as nothing like it had ever been attempted. IT experts at the time had difficulty understanding this new technology’s full potential. As with all technological breakthroughs, some pundits had to be convinced that this new method was more efficient than the current system. Over time, even the most intransigent naysayers had to admit that the World Wide Web was the way of the future. And with the introduction of graphic user interfaces, such as Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer, home users were able to navigate the internet more quickly, eventually leading to the commercialization of the Internet.

Although Berners-Lee had the pleasure of witnessing his creation beginning to change and improve thousands of lives, there were still those who thought the commercialization of the Internet was not in society’s best interest. The ubiquitous nature of Internet pornography and concerns about privacy not-withstanding, Berners-Lee goes on to discuss some of the improvements that would make the Internet an even more robust tool. Among these are more advanced browsers and innovative new tools that allow comments to be posted on documents in real time on the web. This concept of “annotation servers” would essentially eliminate the need for attachments in email, making collaboration a much more effective tool for getting things done. Another of the author’s predictions centers on the idea of a “social machine” that would revolutionize the way people share concerns and express ideas to their elective officials. Through these examples, the author explains how the concept of a true global village is not such a far-fetched idea.



The book has a somewhat utopian vibe, as the author steers away from focusing his attention on the Internet’s many pitfalls. Yet, he accepts the fact that the Internet is not the progenitor of a more intellectually rich society. Instead, he highlights the Internet’s potential to enrich society at the grassroots level. “The experience of seeing the Web take off by the grassroots effort of thousands gives me tremendous hope,” he writes, “that if we have the individual will, we can collectively make of our world what we want.” The author cautions readers, however, from embracing too strongly the idea that humanity gets smarter as it evolves. Instead, Berners-Lee suggests that we have merely become better connected, or “connected into a better shape.”

His role as the head of the World Wide Web Consortium makes him uniquely positioned to guide his invention into the future. Yet, he does shy away from the notion that the fate of the Internet is not entirely in his hand. The ultimate goal is to ensure the identification and sharing of information across the web remains a publically accessible standard. Such revolutionary concepts will undoubtedly be debated and debunked by politicians who gawk at the idea of the free distribution of information online. But if Berners-Lee’s Consortium prevails, universal access to the Web might be a conceivable reality. If it does not, the Internet will likely meet the same fate as mainstream media, becoming corporatized, fragmented, and a soul-less echo of the dreams its founder had when he invented it.

Naturally, Berners-Lee is against the concept of net neutrality. HIs argument is as compelling now as it was when the author conceived it in a publication that is now nearly ten years old. “The Web must include information that is free, very expensive, and every level in between,” the author says. “It must allow all the different interest groups to put together all manner of licensing and incentive systems and always, of course, allow the user to just say no.” While the book lacks suggested courses of action for maintaining a free and universal Web, it does indicate that politicians and those in power will have great influence in the future of the Internet. As one writer puts it, “The epic political struggle of the twenty-first century looks to be about individualism versus corporatism, and the Net and the Web will be prominent battlegrounds.”



Weaving the Web is a compelling read for those curious about the formation of one of the twentieth century’s most profound inventions, and its fate in a time when “free” never remains free for long.