WWW: Past, Present, and Future
Tim Berners-Lee
MIT Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL)
Southampton University ECS
World Wide Web Consortium
World Wide Web Foundation
These slides:
http://www.w3.org/2009/Talks/0914-webhistory-tbl/
This talk
- Remember back before the Web?
- The fundamental change: Universality
- Web Science
- Linked Data
- Web Foundation
Pre-Web
now difficult to explain what it was like!
- Documentation systems do not work together
- Attempts to unify fail from imposing too much
- Difficult to explain what WWW will be like
CERN: The European Particle Physics Laboratory
CERN: Atlas Detector
Pre-web at CERN
Need to bridge
- People from all over the world
- Different sorts of information
- Different organizations
1980: Enquire
> ENQUIRE
Enquire V 1.1
Hello!
Opening file (PSK-PCP)VAC-V1:ENQR...
PSB Vacuum Control System (concept) < O>
--- ------ ------- ------
[ 1] described-by: Enquiry System
An experimental system for which this is a test.
[ 2] includes: Vacuum History System
Records and displays slow changes in pressure.
[ 3] includes: Vacuum equipment modules
Perform all the hardware interface
[ 4] includes: Control and status applications programs
Provide operator interaction from the consoles.
[ 5] described-by: Controle du System a Vide du Booster 11-2-80
Operational specification of the software
[ 6] includes: PSB Pump Surveillance System PCP 228
Allows rapid monitoring of pressure changes
[number ]
Solution
- Make minimum requirements of adopters
- Abstract space includes all conceivable systems
- Universal space
1989: Web memo
Circles and arrows again...
1990: WWW design
- URI is global identifier, having one is good
- URI schemes have different properties
- HTTP scheme allows publish and lookup
- HTTP allows many data formats
- HTML is a language for hypertext
- .. but links not typed.
1990: Original WWW architecture
Universality of the Web
Independent of:
- Hardware platform
- Software platform - OS
- Application Software
- Network access
- Public, Group, or Personal scope
- Scribbled idea to polished publication
- Language and culture
- Disability
- Data for machines or Documents for people
- Size
- Who are where you are
1991-4: Paradigm shift
1994: World Wide Web Consortium
good + fair + fast
- Industry and academic and public participation
- Wide review
- Implementation Interoperability requirements
- Coordination between groups
- Internationalization, Accessibility
- Royalty free standards -> safe, wide adoption
- Many activities, check
w3.org
- Join!
Leading the web to its full potential
Care and use of the WWW
- URIs should be persistent - don't change them!
- Make sure you site is accessible
- Insist on open standards
Spirit of Web design
has been the best part
- Diversity of participants
- Openness
- Royalty-free foundation => Wide adoption
- Sense of excitement, unbounded opportunity
Web Science
The process of web science
2006: Web Science Research Initiative
- Analysis and Synthesis
- Promote Research
- New curriculum
- 2009: Web Science Trust
(Web Science talk)
HTML tensions
- Total back compatibility with old web pages - HTML5
- vs. Modularity and extensible architecture - XML
- HTML as the only language
- vs. HTML as largest among many
Linked Data
Mashup
2009: World Wide Web Foundation
- One web, free and open
- The other 80% of the world...
- webfoundation.org
- Steve Bratt, CEO
