Apparently, the Web is turning 25 tomorrow (Wednesday, 3/12/14)!
The creators, naturally, have a lot to say about their hopes and fears for the Web.
What I found highly interesting is that Mr. Berners-Lee, and the other creators, "worry that companies and telecommunications outlets could destroy the open nature that made it flourish in their quest to make more money" (NY Times).
This just shores up my idea that huge mega-companies (and there's only 6 mega-ones in the world, as we learned in class) will exploit the web for purely capitalist reasons. I mean, that's what corporations do, isn't it? Make money?
Reading the article further, it becomes clear that there is good news. Nobody panic. The Web is currently where "every minute, billions of connected people send each other hundreds of millions of messages, share 20 million photos and exchange at least $15 million in goods and services" (NY Times). So the Web doesn't completely belong to Disney and Nestle and other companies.
Does that mean sites like Facebook and YouTube haven't succumbed to adverting and other clear indicators of the dollar sign? Absolutely not! There are ads you must watch before you can view most YouTube videos, these days.
Mr. Bernes-Lee (writer of the first web page editor and web browser) has a warning for us web users. He warns us that there is a current battle around "network neutrality," which is essentially the idea that Web content should flow freely through the internet regardless of creator/origin.
Obviously, big companies like Apple will want to use the Web to do what they do best ($$$$$), which will turn the internet into anything but a neutral medium.
"The openness of the web is really, really important," say Mr. Bernes-Lee, and I tend to agree with him. “It’s important for the open markets, for the economy and for democracy" (NY Times).
This seems to be a bigger issue than I thought. If "large telecommunications companies took control of the web," the repercussions for web-users could be astounding. Mr. Barnes-Lee and others worried about the future of the net will attempt to spread awareness of this issue in the near-future.
Already, we just have to look around to see how the 6 huge corporations are infiltrating our lives, whether it be through ad campaigns or the prolific use of products they sell. I, for one, do not want the Web to lose any of its dwindling neutrality. As a lowly American citizen with no hopes (really) of ever becoming CEO of a mega-corporation, the commercialization of the Web is a scary thought. Control the Web, and these companies will have access to over 87% of the American adult population.
It all rather sounds like a plot from a scifi novel. The web has been invented, now we must wait for it to gain users as a neutral medium before swooping in and making it ours!! Muhahahaha!!
No thank you.
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