It wasn’t that long ago – just 16 years in fact – when there was no such thing as the World Wide Web.
And the Internet? It was for a handful of scientists and uber-geeks only.
Who made the difference? That’s easy. Tim Berners-Lee.
The Queen of England just awarded him the Order of Merit and though I don’t normally go in for all that “royal” stuff, this is a case where I’m glad the institution exists because clearly Berners-Lee’s contribution requires massive acknowledgement.
“I was just in the right place at the right time,” he’s been quoted as saying often about his invention. That may be true, but he was in the right place at the right time – and did something about it.
Berners-Lee’s goal wasn’t self-aggrandizement or to pile up a fortune with which to lord it over others. He saw a way to make an existing tool easier and more accessible to others and invested the considerable time, effort and energy needed to make it happen. He didn’t need to. His salary would have been the same whether he invented the World Wide Web or not.
Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web, you ask?
Yes, lock, stock, and barrel.
Web pages, web sites, web servers, web browsers, HTML, hyper text transfer protocol (the “http” you see in every web address)…all Berners-Lee’s inventions.
Where would we be without the web today? I hate to imagine. Well done Sir Tim and Hail Britainia.
– Ken McCarthy
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Hi Ken,
The very fact that he utilised the chance is something worthy of honor.
Let Berners-Lee be the inspration of everyone who wants to make a living out of the internet.
Hats off to Berners-Lee for his invention & the Queen for honoring him.
Now let me go back to finish the copy I started writing. 🙂
Edward Santosh
Don’t forget to also thank the U.S. government for creating the Internet in the first place.
Dear Ken,
Thank you.I agree with you fully.
Your Vladimir
Actually TCP/IP was invented in England during WW2 but the British government pulled the funding because a. they didn’t see any potential for it (bless ’em) and b. we were fighting for our lives.