The Web That Wasn't

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Google Tech Talks
October, 23 2007

ABSTRACT

For most of us who work on the Internet, the Web is all we have ever really known. It's almost impossible to imagine a world without browsers, URLs and HTTP. But in the years leading up to Tim Berners-Lee's world-changing invention, a few visionary information scientists were exploring alternative systems that often bore little resemblance to the Web as we know it today. In this presentation, author and information architect Alex Wright will explore the heritage of these almost-forgotten systems in search of promising ideas left by the historical wayside.

The presentation will focus on the pioneering work of Paul Otlet, Vannevar Bush, and Doug Engelbart, forebears of the 1960s and 1970s like Ted Nelson, Andries van Dam, and the Xerox PARC team, and more recent forays like Brown's Intermedia system. We'll trace the heritage of these systems and the solutions they suggest to present day Web quandaries, in hopes of finding clues to the future in the recent technological past.

Speaker: Alex Wright
Alex Wright is an information architect at the New York Times and the author of Glut: Mastering Information Through the Ages. Previously, Alex has led projects for The Long Now Foundation, California Digital Library, Harvard University, IBM, Microsoft, Rollyo and Sun Microsystems, among others. He maintains a personal Web site at

Channel: People & Blogs
Uploaded: October 26, 2007 at 5:12 am
Author: googletechtalks

Length: 00:59:34
Rating: 4.74
Views: 25076

Tags: google techtalks techtalk engedu talk talks googletechtalks education

Video Comments:
seobro (December 29, 2008 at 4:11 pm)
I still remember PLATO in college. It was a method of creating computer content back in the 70's before the internet.
nicegurl112 (October 17, 2008 at 12:47 pm)
anyway, tick tock tick tock,

i want some johnson.
Valetudo21 (October 9, 2008 at 11:49 pm)
great talk. VERY interesting!
F00dTube (September 9, 2008 at 6:38 pm)
Yea! And did you know that the wtc towers fell faster than free fall?
vaundawg (September 8, 2008 at 1:54 am)
boxa, tesla was opposed to einsteins theory of relativity and was obsessed with refuting it. he refused to acnowledge even that space might be curved - something we observe frequently now and even rely on to determine the locations of distant heavenly bodies. his theory of how something could move faster than light has been disproven several times over. it's pseudoscience. sorry.
vaundawg (September 7, 2008 at 2:56 am)
what boxa888 says is not true. ignore him
boxa888 (September 7, 2008 at 6:34 am)
but it is the first. tesla states around 1890-95 his wireless system will send power, voice, pictures,moving pictures, writing,exchange ideas, business information to all points(yes thats the internet). he also states cell phone devices as small as watches that could be used to talk to other people on the planet, his cell phones didnt need charging either lol. you have to reseach it before you say anything!
vaundawg (September 7, 2008 at 1:45 pm)
I have researched it. Tesla was a charlatan. He was a fraud. None of his 'devices' actually worked; he was a pioneer into electronics but was quickly overshadowed by people with devices that actually worked. His imagination ran away with him and he forgot about real invention - he just started making shit up.

There are designs out there for lots of 'flying machines' in the 1800s, too. And guess what? Only one of them really worked. Imagination is great, but results matter. Tesla didn't get any.
boxa888 (September 7, 2008 at 7:41 pm)
why have i proven his one wire transmission in my basement, its not properly tuned but shows the principle very well. this same principle leads to the faster than light speeds and energy transfer through the earth. well whatever, believe what you want, every one has an opinion, and everyone can have the ability to find what is reality. one wire transmission is included in it! pce
boxa888 (September 5, 2008 at 9:19 pm)
yes his equation was velocity = 300,000 * cosecant (_ degrees) 1 degree from the tower is like 80,000,000,000 km/sec! going to 90 degrees(equator) the energy hits the speed of light, once it goes pasrt the equator it speeds up to faster than light speeds. its all to do with the sherical nature of the earth! its incredible this was 100 yrs ago and the internet was going to be so fast and perfect. i put up information on his system if your interested, he was the first to make the internet!