During a conversation with my son at the weekend, on Mother’s Day actually and David is a Techie, he reminded me that whilst the Internet first started being developed in the late 1960’s in California, it really became popular after Englishman Tim Berners-Lee developed HTML. That was in August 1991 when he created the first web site, introducing the World Wide Web to the general public, available for everyone. So whilst Berners-Lee didn’t invent the Internet, without his creation of the WWW, the Internet would not be nearly as popular as it is today.
The interesting thing about this is that he created it ‘for everyone’ and he did not seek any financial reward by way of Intellectual Property Rights. However he was knighted by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in 2004 for his pioneering work.
I mention this because whenever I get a problem, my first 2 ports of call are website chat rooms and YouTube. What always seem like problems that will take a long time to sort, assuming I am successful, end up being fairly easy or at least uncomplicated most of the time. It never ceases to amaze me that there is almost always somebody who has already had the same or similar problem and have carefully noted or videoed how they sorted it. That also amazes me; that a lot of people are so kind and considerate and want to help fellow human beings, where ever they may be in the world.
I have steered clear of Facebook, Twitter and other forms of social media as I am too long in tooth for that but I am an avid buyer of goods from Internet websites. My wife and I also enjoy a trip to the shops every week. I want our local town centre shops to survive but it is obvious they are being hit very hard by Internet shopping and the continued recession. I have made a guideline rule. ‘When I need something I will look out for it during our next weekly shopping trip; if I don’t find it I will get it off the Internet’. Sometimes, if I need it quickly, I will just order it straight from Amazon or the like. Two Sundays ago, at 6pm, I needed a printer part and ordered it. The part was delivered at lunchtime the very next day. INCREDIBLE and AMAZING have to be descriptive words that spring to mind.
