Come Together

It's been just over 10 years since the first popularized verision of an internet web browser was made publically available. NCSA Mosaic, which later became Netscape, allowed for a more visual and connective form of browsing the already established Internet. It became suddenly clear that all the world's information would be available right at our fingertips.

I remember clearly the first time I saw it (Mosaic Version 1). Something made me pay attention as I felt a sense of "i need to get that", and the computer store clerk told me where I could download it, for free. A novell concept. It was clear that this was too precious to sell, it was a resource - for everyone.

Since then, everyone and anyone has had a brilliant idea about how to apply this new powerful medium, mainly to sell stuff. It wouldn't take long before we needed sites to organize and maintain the information, and that's what Yahoo! did in 1994. Then came Alta Visa, Ask Jeeves, NorthernLight, Go, Excite and of course, Google.

Information, entertainment, photos, message boards, news & blogs - the evolution, de-evolution and re-evolution of the web has led it back to a basic and fundamental human principle: Bring People Together.

It's been impossible to miss the stream of "Social Networking" sites that have popped up lately. Friendster, Tribe, LinkedIn, MeetUp - for fun, for friends, for dates or for business - there is no shortage of opportunity to meet and connect with people.

It feels as though the web is getting back to it's roots, more in principle philosophy than in historical perspective. The opportunity of this medium is that it is two ways. You can't "watch" the web - you search, you interact, you type, you write, you chat. And it talks back.

With limitless possibilities and opportunities for diversion, the one thing we continue to come back to is each other. If this is not just a 'fad' or 'pet rock', and we can truly gain new and exciting connections from interacting with other people who like the same books as the one I just bought , then there may be hope for the human race after all.

We'll see...