Monday, April 24, 2006

It's a transient web, but some things stay the same

Thought provoking post from Steve 'Barney' Rubel about 'The Transient Web', providing a potted history of the evolutions and revolutions in how we use the internet taking it all the way from the geek to the high street.

From my side of things I have been using the internet for 11 years now, having been brought up trying to get any enjoyment out of an Acorn Electron. I first went online when asking a friend to 'show me the internet'. We sat down and fired up a computer.

"So, what are you interested in seeing?"

"Well, just show me what's there."

"It doesn't work like that. You have to be searching for a specific topic."

That basic premise has remained through to the present range of Web 2.0 services available. It puts the user at the heart of the experience. This principle is evolving into other media, as part of the 'me, me, media' that I've blogged about before:

"Me, me, me media: when you saw your Luddite friends getting to grips with 3G, Sky Plus, IPod, Tivo, Blackberry's, Desktop Search, RSS, and the rest. What you want, when you want it and on what device you want it."

The internet may be transient, but the basic principles remain.

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