The great leveling

The great leveling

Sir Tim Berners Lee - The creator of the worldwide web, a creation which was seen as connecting humanity.

" Wikipedia inaccurate, as anyone is able to edit pages and change information about an organisation or individual."

Bill Gates - “Internet has become the way to communicate, it has become a brain.”

• Bill Gates theory of the web was to use it for buying and selling products not sharing. 

Al Gore – “The internet has become an empowering tool.

•    The worldwide web has now created a Digital divide, the digital haves and haves not.
•  2 billion people go online every day.  
•   Internet challenges authority vs spying & censorship.
• The web allows someone to post something instantly, without having to ask permission from someone.
•   5 Million people use dating websites every month.
• 40% of men watch porn online. 
• 18 million people blogs, the majority being from West London. 

Wikipedia

• Wikipedia articles can be posted by anyone, however they have to verified by other users of Wikipedia to ensure the information provided is true.
• 65 million people use Wikipedia.
• 14 million people post articles. 
• Free 
• Ordinary people use 
• Wikipedia dont have to answer to anyone before posting something. (uncut authority) 

The well

In 1985 the first computer was created which was available for the public to purchase. Before the well the Government were the only organisation who were able to have access to a computer.

• Al Gore saw The Tell to be a “exciting and revolutionary prospect.”

Industrial revolution vs internet revolution

Is the internet going to level us?

• Challenge the business models – E.G Record labels and shops, due to illegal downloads will this have a large effect how much money record labels are able to generate or, whether shops are able to keep selling CD’s of artists.
• One example of this is HMV who specialist in selling music, which they have now gone in bankruptcy. 

Does the Internet give power to people?

Equal access and voice

• 35 million people go online every day in the UK.
• £1 billion spent on internet every week.

Libertarianism - Being able to do something without the Governments power, freedom (1960’s)

Blogging – provides the audience with no to limit to self-expression. 

Web 

Sir Tim Berners Lee - information management created the web (1980)

“Vogue but exciting”

• Web is what is delivered to the audience through the internet.
• 1991 – The first website went online.
• Hyper tech – URL (web pages).
• Web empowers people.
• Web allows you to publish anything you want without asking for anyone’s permission
• Created a set of tools through the web  

Web allows you to report abuse (Power of the people) 

Kenya – Ushahidi

Kenya public post examples of attacks and abuses towards the public. This then forces the government to intervene and take action on the people who are conducted the abuse towards the public inside of Kenya. This is an example of the power of the web. 

• “Paradigm Shift” – on a par with the printing press.
•  Revolutionary change
• 1960 – US military first to use the internet structure

(1991) Sir Tim Berners Lee - Created the web, URL format of the internet. 

• HTML – computer language, universal language (allowed interaction)

Resist authority – No control of what gets published

• More power to ordinary people
• Free open sources, for example fire fox 

Altair 8800 – First computer

• Sir Tim Berners Lee believed that all software’s that are provided with the Altair 8800 should be free, whereas Bill Gates believed that the software’s should be paid for due to him seeing this opportunity as a business opportunity. 

1995 – Internet explorer

• Sold with computers (Windows PC). 
• In 1995 Microsoft owned 95% on the market. 

1999 – Napstar

• Copy and share music for free with one another through the internet.
• 2001 – Napstar restricted and banned.
• 95% of music is downloaded illegally.

Web allows someone to create fans and an audience (UGC - User Generated Content)

• YouTube being the main source allowing the audience to do this. For example Justin Bieber and Rebecca black..
• 2005 YouTube their posted first video.
• More than 1 billion people view YouTube today.
• Piracy – 1991 – 2001.

Monetize Internet

• Make money from the Internet.