Around The World (Wide Web) + Back Snap
Newsletter + On This Day
Itās hard to imagine life today without the World Wide Web.
Tim Berners-Lee wrote his proposal for āthe Webā in 1989 and formally publishedāor republished, depending on which source you believeāit on this day in 1990, sparking a revolution that has transformed our world for better and for worse.
Before the Web, the Internet had existed since the 1960s, but it wasnāt exactly accessible to the average person. Berner-Leeās proposal changed all that.
In 1990, I was a college freshman, completely unaware of how this new āWebā would soon change everything. Iād heard some rumblings, but it wasnāt until late 1994 that I experienced it firsthand, thanks to a friend who had dropped out of college to design and develop websites. I didnāt know what a website was, but he was more than happy to share his excitementāand workāwith me, a fellow tech geek.
The Web back then was clunky and slow by todayās standards, but I was hooked.
The next morning, I signed up for AOL. And the rest, as they say, is history.
The Web has inspired boundless connection, convenience, and creativity.
The worlds of art, education, finance, media, and technology quickly collided and overlapped, again for better and for worse.
As Tim Berners-Lee once said, āThings can change so fast on the Internet.ā Much of that change has been positive, but there is a literal Dark Web too.
The same Web that brings us together can just as easily divide us. Misinformation and ānewsā spread at lightning speed, making it harder than ever to separate fact from fiction. Algorithms pull our attention in a hundred directions and reward outrage and overreactions. And letās not even get started on privacy, now a near-impossible feat in this chronically online world.
Not since Gutenbergās printing press has the world changed so fastāand so profoundly. The Web has redefined what it means to connect, create, and even live.
Whether you see it as a blessing, a curse, or something in between, thereās no doubt that Tim Berners-Lee's ālittleā invention has reshaped the course of human history, opening a world of communication, information, and opportunity that my younger self couldnāt have imagined.
Hereās to remembering when Pandora first got out of her boxāand hereās hoping she remains more friend than foe to you, me, and everyone we know.
Thanks for reading!
Clint
P.S. A few asked me what I think of my new Mac mini. This video thumbnail says it all:
ON THIS DAY = NOVEMBER 12
BIRTHDAYS
1840 = Auguste Rodin = French sculptor and illustrator, created The Thinker š
1929 = Grace Kelly = American actor, later Princess Grace of Monaco
1930 = Bob Crewe, American singer-songwriter and producer š
1943 = Wallace Shawn = American actor, comedian and playwright
1945 = Neil Young = Canadian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1958 = Megan Mullally = American actor and singer š
1976 = Tevin Campbell = American R&B singer-songwriter and actor š
1980 = Ryan Gosling = Canadian actor, producer and singer
1982 = Anne Hathaway = American actor
EVENTS
1880 = Best-selling American novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of The Christ is published.
1927 = Leon Trotsky is expelled from the Soviet Communist Party, leaving Joseph Stalin in undisputed control of the Soviet Union.
1936 = The San FranciscoāOakland Bay Bridge opens to traffic.
1954 = Ellis Island closed after processing more than 20 million immigrants since opening in New York Harbor in 1892.
1966 = Buzz Aldrin takes the first āspace selfieā during the Gemini program.
1968 = In its unanimous Epperson v. Arkansas decision, the US Supreme Court declares the Arkansas law banning the teaching of evolution unconstitutional.
1969 = Fallout from Time magazineās October 31 cover story, āThe Homosexual: Newly Visible, Newly Understoodā results in a protest at the Time-Life Building.
1970 = The Oregon Highway Division unsuccessfully attempted to destroy a rotting beached sperm whale near Florence, Oregon, with dynamite.
1976 = The Boy In The Plastic Bubble, starring John Travolta, premieres on ABC.
1990 = Tim Berners-Lee publishes a formal proposal for the World Wide Web.
1992 = Absolutely Fabulous premieres on BBC2.
1999 = Kevin Smithās Dogma is released in theaters. (watch on Internet Archive)
2012 = Catfish: The TV Show premieres on MTV.
2021 = The LA Superior Court formally ends Britney Spearsā conservatorship.
PHOTO + QUOTE OF THE DAY
āNothing is a waste of time if you use the experience wisely.ā
Auguste Rodin
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