This morning I attended a lecture in Stata, given by Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the guy who invented the world wide web.

(That sentence alone is pretty awesome. But I digress.)

Tim was pretty fascinating, so I checked out his site to learn more about him. My favortite page is the one on which he answers questions for kids. I particularly like his answer to the last question.

It was a bit weird to be sitting in the same room with the guy who was responsible for changing the world so significantly. Think about it - what would the last ten years have been like without the web?

And yet - in person he's just a guy. Not the guy who revolutionized everything from commerce to politics to college admissions with his invention. No, in person he's just a nice, friendly guy with talents in physics and computers who cared deeply about facilitating communication within human civilization, so he did something about it.

I don't think it was ever his plan to change the world. That part was just icing on the cake.

As he explains on the kids' page:

"Think about most of the bad things that have happened between people in your life. Maybe most of them come down to one person not understanding another. Even wars.

Let's use the Web to help people understand each other."

Sometimes I think the best ideas in the world begin as the most simple ones.

Let's communicate.

Bravo, Sir Tim.

Comments (Closed after 30 days to reduce spam)

Yay for Tim the Beaver

Posted by: 0 on June 1, 2006

LOL @ above commenter.



I just read some of the Q&A on the kids' page -- it's about my speed. Very cool.



I cannot imagine how different my life would be without the internet; thank God for Sir Tim.

Posted by: Christina on June 1, 2006

Haha, I totally agree with Christina, I cannot imagine my life without internet... it's just... not possible to imagine

Posted by: Omar '10 on June 1, 2006

Oh yes indeed. <3 Internet.

Posted by: Timur Sahin on June 1, 2006

Yes, the internet is indispensible.

Posted by: tykerb on June 1, 2006

My son works with Sir Tim and says he is a very cool guy. That's why he chose MIT - the opportunity to work with luminaries. He's mentioned a couple of times in "The World is Flat." (Sir Tim, not my son!) I highly recommend the book.

Posted by: MIT Mom on June 1, 2006

You're talking about Al Gore, rt?

Posted by: Sandy on June 1, 2006

Hmm, I like this guy. Think he'll bend his "no personal interviews, please use this page" rule for me (because I'm special!)?

Posted by: thekeri on June 1, 2006

"Think about most of the......each other."

This sentence has such underlying meanings. Its really cool!

I cant even imagine sending all my admission/enrollment stuff over the postal mail. I think the admission procedure should have had to be started two years before the actual enrollment of the class....LOL.

Posted by: Arka'10 on June 1, 2006

Arka, I sent all of my stuff through the mail, and would do it again if I had to do everything over. It feels more real! :(

Posted by: Anthony on June 1, 2006

Dude, I get to Cambridge in 18 days.



Cool stuff is not allowed to happen before then!



Then again, it seems like cool stuff is happening all the time in the MIT corner of the country.

Posted by: Christine on June 1, 2006

I have been reading about the next big internet revolution yet to come, called the "Symantic Web". This too is spearheaded by Sir Berners-Lee. It sounds very exciting!

Posted by: Ram - A parent on June 5, 2006

Oops, typo ... I meant to say "Semantic Web"

Posted by: Ram - A parent on June 6, 2006

Oh Ben,

When will you blog again?

Are you in vacation, then?

Of course, you've got the right

To have a good time now and then...

Posted by: 0 on June 7, 2006

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