How the Internet changes those “walked five miles to school barefoot” stories…
When I was growing up we had to walk five miles in the snow wait up to TEN whole minutes for a webpage to load…this just might be the “you think you have it hard” story told to future generations.
Today, September 2, marks the 40th anniversary of the Internet. As a technology coalition, all of us at Wired Wisconsin see today as a day of great joy and one for thoughtful contemplation.
To put our readers into the mindset of 40 years of technology innovation, we suggest you check out this cool video from National Geographic on the Internet’s 40th anniversary as well as this photo gallery from the Chicago Tribune of gadgets once upon a time considered high-tech.
Whether you remembered back or learned something new about how much technology has developed in the past, one thing is clear technology is always evolving. The researchers and engineers, who first conceptualized the Internet, or one computer communicating to another, could not grasp how their project would change the world.
And as this opinion editorial from the New York Times written by Stephen D. Crocker, one of the fabled Internet engineers, so articulately explains, the Internet as we know it today would never have been possible without some of our country’s brightest minds working together—each adding their own knowledge to the Internet’s first “how to” manual. “Everyone was welcome to propose ideas, and if enough people liked it and used it, the design became a standard…the ultimate in openness in technical design and that culture of open processes was essential in enabling the Internet to grow and evolve as spectacularly as it has. In fact, we probably wouldn’t have the Web without it.”
Just as people from all over the country worked together to bring the world the Internet 40 years ago, Wired Wisconsin is committed to growing our coalition membership into a demographically diverse group of people working to bring our State to the cutting edge of technology. We look forward to the day when our own success stories of grass-roots technology issue advocacy bring our mission statement to fruition.
For more information about joining our Coalition, or how your organization/business can get involved check out our website: www.wiredwisconsin.org