Pushing It Forward: The Web Turns 25

The World Wide Web turns 25 today. That is a long time, and yet, relatively speaking, it is but a drop in the bucket. The web is still in its infancy and yet it has also matured a great deal since the time many of us were first introduced to it. At its core, the web has changed very little since its inception. HTTP and HTML still rule the day and hyperlinks are as powerful a mechanism for connecting it all now, as they were in the very beginning. It has also been said that the power of the web lies in its ubiquity. A more honest statement has never been uttered. However, in my opinion, the web's strongest and most overlooked asset has not been the technology itself, but the people behind it. The web is not only an interconnection of systems, but an interconnection of lives. Real flesh and blood lives. Anyone who has been fortunate enough to work on the web, no matter the capacity, and who has genuinely cared for its well being and future, are in fact, pioneers. This is an amazing point in our history. See what is before you here. You are a part of a grand experiment. Where it ends up is anybody's guess, but no matter how great or small your contribution to the web has been, you, dear reader, have helped push it forward. All of us have, little by little, in our own unique and wonderful ways. This thought, more than most others I have had about the web, inspires me the most and I hope that it inspires you as well.

Thank you, Sir Tim, for this most awesome of inventions and a very happy birthday to you, information superhighway! Here is to the next 25 years!