Thirty years ago this week, the World Wide Web was born. Tim Berners-Lee, a British computer programmer, proposed an information management system that would allow people working around the world to collaborate on projects. Three decades later, Berners-Lee assesses his idea with equal parts wonder and disappointment. He remains committed to his concept, however, and has embarked on new initiatives to reclaim its promise. It is a fight we should support.
On March 12, 1989, Berners-Lee, then working for the European Particle Physics Laboratory (better known as CERN), wrote a memo that sketched an internet-based system that would facilitate the sharing of information among different computers. It would break down the silos — both technological and bureaucratic — that blocked conversations and collaboration. It eased technical constraints by distributing data and eliminating the need for single site repositories. His goal was simple: connecting people.
To that end, he developed and then released the following year the hypertext transfer protocol, the ubiquitous HTTP that starts every web address. Three years later, CERN decided to keep HTTP free and open, distributing it without charge, instead of demanding a licensing fee for its use as a competitor did. (That competitor is now known only as the failed rival to HTTP.)