Russ Maschmeyer Presentation Slideshare

Editor's Notes

• #2: · I’m going to talk about · The Consumer Internet · How it came to be (As Well As) · Multiple faces & mental models it assumed on its way to the public · Snapshot of Internet 2005 · Assume larger now · Wasn’t Always This Big
• #3: · Wasn’t always center of media attention · Run by guys in nice suits · holding cool gadgets · flying around in private jets (Larry Page, Sergey Brin) · Internet wasn’t always meant for them · Wasn’t always meant for us · Initially...
• #4: · Meant for these guys · This is the pit crew of world’s first network, ARPAnet
• #5: · One guy in particular, Larry Roberts · Mastermind of ARPAnet, which essentially became Internet · Between 1966 & 1973 worked for ARPA · Division of Pentagon · experimented with computer networking solutions · Goal: share Data & resources between distant mainframes
• #6: · This is one of his early network sketches of ARPAnet · Went online October 29, 1969 · Terminals set up between UCLA & SRI (Stanford Research Institute) · After the first test, they immediately began to expand
• #7: · lots of technical hurdles to overcome · one of biggest probs solved by Donald Davies · Issue: simultaneous information transfer would overload lines · System crash · Network disaster · so...
• #8: · Created an automated system to · Break down transmissions into pieces or packets · traffic them down hundreds of routes · & reassemble them at the other end · Dubbed it Packet Switching · so effective, still basically in use today
• #9: · Most pervasive uses for the Internet born here... · First Emails sent · First online community: MsgGroup - email group formed just to talk about email · First online game: called “Adventure”, created by Will Crowther · It was arguably first thing to ever go “viral” · Spirit was open, collaborative and community driven · Which are all key elements of internet today · But only universities could afford access · Would soon change
• #10: · In 1978 an Ohio Life Insurance Co. · Came up with idea to create their own network · lease their extra computing power to people w/ home computers · totally revolutionary idea, but...(click) · Marketing team thought it was a joke (click) · dubbed it “Schlock Time-Sharing” · That’s how CompuServe, world’s first consumer network provider · or schlock time-share, was born
• #11: · 1978, First offered email to people with home computers · 1980, launched world’s first Instant Messaging program: CB Simulator
• #12: · 1978, First offered email to people with home computers · 1980, launched world’s first Instant Messaging program: CB Simulator
• #13: · 1978, First offered email to people with home computers · 1980, launched world’s first Instant Messaging program: CB Simulator
• #14: · 1978, First offered email to people with home computers · 1980, launched world’s first Instant Messaging program: CB Simulator
• #15: In his book, Rewired, David Hudson says...
• #16: · CompuServe failed to ignite widespread public interest · Their command line interface was too abstract for most users · Eventually had a Menu system - even that described as “Labyrinthine” · Peak usage: 380,000 subscribers · Still, they were the market leaders for nearly 10 years · Think of CompuServe as a kind of Online Library · One part information storage · One part social meeting place
• #17: · 1990, IBM & Sears teamed up to take on CompuServe · Launched first graphical online service, Prodigy · Content heavily editorialized · No Consumer authored content · No Instant Messaging · No Bulletin Boards · Very limited Email · & No community · If had to apply MM: like an online magazine
• #18: · Did have games! · Prodigy, aimed at novice end of market · It was smart strategy considering the confusing nature of CompuServe · Only connected with 465,000 subscribers · Graphics made service extremely SLOW · & w/o community people had little reason to return often · Prodigy had simplified online navigation · but sacrificed the key elements that made networks attractive in 1st place
• #19: · Enter AOL · AOL launched shortly after Prodigy in 1991 · Lagged behind initially · but had a wider vision for its services · Launched massive direct mail onslaught of America
• #20: · Gave away so many “Free Trial” disks, people wallpapered their homes · The aim was to lower consumer entry cost to nothing · Succeeded · AOL had slicker interface than Prodigy & more services · Took the entertainment & content features of Prodigy · & community features of CompuServe
• #21: · packaged it in an easy to use interface · in process, created one of world’s most recognized sound bytes (click) · Email, chat rooms, IM · download files & articles · games, music, movies, news · but still little ability to author content · At their peak - 27 million subscribers · public had finally adopted online services on a massive scale · but AOL wouldn’t hold them for long
• #22: · Meanwhile at CERN in Switzerland...
• #23: · Tim Berners-Lee was thinking about the non-linearity of human memory · Imagined a uniform content & linking system that mimicked the human mind · So a document created on one computer, would look same on any computer · TBL played around with idea of non-linear information exploration · Had idea for documents where text, links, images, sound, & videos could co-exist · This was the birth of our modern concept of a webpage and the WWW · Created concept of the “Browser” to read & navigate the web of documents
• #24: · First public browser, MOSAIC, released in 1993 · Genius of browser is it hid complex functions of internet · behind easily readable, easily writable documents · No more special knowledge would be needed to “surf” the internet or mine information · HTTP, the World Wide Web, and Browsers, put the agency of the web in hands of its inhabitants, us · Now same spirit of openness, community, and self-author-ship · born with ARPAnet · part of our everyday lives · no longer a division between academic internet & consumer internet · it’s just the internet