Rating: 
Summary: a bit to techie-oriented
Review: I felt this was a fairly interesting account, but hardly expected such a specifically (and laborious) technical blueprint, of the development environments, computer languages etc. etc. used in the creation of the WWW. I was hoping for a bit more of a broader brush painted in this area (not half of the book!)... Worth reading only for the types of people that are not bored silly by this stuff... 2.5 stars
Rating: 
Summary: Should Be Required Readng For All Netizens
Review: I had the pleasure of reading Tim's book at about the time I was working with a non-profit group which produced a free two-hour webcast of Tim's Q&A. The book really filled in the gaps in my knowledge of the creation and evolution of the Internet. His play-by-play description of his days at CERN truly painted a picture of the times and places. His unselfish comments about Marc Andreessen, Bill Gates and the other Internet billionaires truly speaks volumes about the founder of the Internet. The Phrase "What's Past is Prologue" (as etched in the National Archives Building in Washingtn,D.C.) truly encapsulates Tim's optimistic view of where the Internet has come as well as where it is going in the future. His ethical and moral musings in the latter part of the book force all of us who are participating in the evolution of the Internet to stop and think about why we do what we do.
Rating:
Summary: Should Be Required Readng For All Netizens
Review: I had the pleasure of reading Tim's book at about the time I was working with a non-profit group which produced a free two-hour webcast of Tim's Q&A. The book really filled in the gaps in my knowledge of the creation and evolution of the Internet. His play-by-play description of his days at CERN truly painted a picture of the times and places. His unselfish comments about Marc Andreessen, Bill Gates and the other Internet billionaires truly speaks volumes about the founder of the Internet. The Phrase "What's Past is Prologue" (as etched in the National Archives Building in Washingtn,D.C.) truly encapsulates Tim's optimistic view of where the Internet has come as well as where it is going in the future. His ethical and moral musings in the latter part of the book force all of us who are participating in the evolution of the Internet to stop and think about why we do what we do.
Rating:
Summary: Could there be a better history of the web
Review: I have heard so many stories of the beginnings of the web, but for the first time, here is how it really happened. Tim Berners-Lee, the man who developed the 'World Wide Web' now tells the tale of how all this hypertext-hoopla began.Berners-Lee writes in plain english, allowing non-programmers to share in his vision and goals for a universal (or should that be uniform?) way to share information across the internet. Especially interesting is the history of the browser market itself, without all the 'browser-war' hype. Best of all, this book does not read like a technical specification -- but is full of warmth and humor as we see Berners-Lee bring his brainchild to light. I read "Where Wizards Stay Up Late: the Origins of the Internet" by Katie Hafner and Matthew Lyon, and desperately wished someone would do similar justice to the history of the web. Not only has someone now done just that, but that someone happens to be the inventor of the web! What more could you ask for?
Rating:
Summary: A mixed bag
Review: I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, Berners-Lee has written a book that not only describes the invention and evolution of the Web, but also inspires commitment to high principles and deep introspection. Berners-Lee is clearly an intellect of the highest caliber, and his commitment to democratic principles in developing the Web is, to me, profoundly admirable. On the other hand, the author seems to labor under the common curse of most software engineers - an inability to clearly communicate ideas and concepts to the non-specialist. Though he tries in words to communicate these concepts, I believe that, overall, his attempt fails unless the reader first has some exposure to, and familiarity with the world-wide Web - an unacceptable pre-requisite for a book directed at the non-specialist. The really unfortunate thing about this is that it does not need to be so. For example, the book has no figures and no tables (though it does have a glossary of the hundreds of acronyms used and a good index). A few well-designed figures and summary tables would help a great deal to unify concepts that are just plain fuzzy and awkward when described with words alone. If you've ever seen a Web site and hypertext you can pretty well follow along with the written descriptions, but how much more helpful it would have been to have a few (color) pictures illustrating what a well-constructed Web site with hyper text looks like. The book does have its fine points. It is a first-hand look at how the Web came into existence, and how it is continuing to evolve today. It also explains efforts to make the Web more valuable. For example, my experience with the Web indicates that it has not only enabled the exchange of accurate, timely, and useful information, but also the dissemination of ignorance, intolerance, and stupidity. Not only has it facilitated these things, it has made it possible for them to "dress up" and look as legitimate as the best peer-review science journal. The unfortunate fact is that anyone with a few thousand dollars and the proper disposition can setup a Web site and say anything they want. This certainly facilitates democratic principles, and I'm not suggesting a central authority that practices censorship by any means, but the unfortunate fact is that it results in an information structure where virtually everything is suspect. Berners-Lee hints at solutions to this problem through what he calls a "Web of Trust" in which people establish associations on the Web much as they do in real life, where certain associations bring trust, while others bring suspicion. For example, when I pick up a technical book by Wylie, I tend to trust the content because of my experience with other books by this publisher. I make similar associations with some authors, journals, newsmagazines, etc. Development of processes and standards to support this "Web of Trust" will go a long way toward improving the utility of the worldwide Web. Anther problem I've found with the Web is that there are no acceptable search engines. Current search engines (including the butler) are clumsy things that act like they are trying to understand what you are asking for, but really haven't a clue. Work in progress should enable search engines to actually act intelligently, and provide far greater utility. The author describes some of the possibilities in this arena as well, and sheds some light on what we might expect to see in the future. Every politician involved in writing legislation associated with the Web should read this book if, for no other reason, than to understand the consequences of attempts to censor information. Burners-Lee offers several anecdotal stories that illustrate the complexity of the Web and how attempts to censor can have unintended consequences. The one I like best regards a Christian fundamentalist group that lobbied for tools that would allow them and others to block sites they considered to be pornographic. As it turned out, other groups had used similar tools to block the fundamentalists' Web site because they considered it to be unacceptable to children owning to the white supremacist and anti-gay propaganda carried there. The example hit home with two important facts about censorship and the Web: First, no single person can decide for everyone what is unacceptable and offensive - big brother censorship is totally unacceptable. Second, the technical tools exist for people to censor themselves and/or their children by blocking certain sites. What we as a society should do, therefore, is to maintain our commitment to democratic principles and freedom of expression while providing the proper technical tools to ensure that parents and individuals continue to have control over what and whom they wish to associate. There is also a good discussion about issues relating to privacy. Clearly, the Europeans are far ahead of Americans in this area. It seems odd that so many Americans seem oblivious and unconcerned about personal information being acquired about them over the Internet, and that our government has done so little to protect personal privacy. One unifying theme comes through this book - the Web is not a "thing," it is a space. This space is not controlled by a central authority, but is built upon the principles of individual freedom of expression. Berners-Lee's personal commitment to these ideals is the real reason the Web exists today.
Rating:
Summary: What the heck?
Review: I thought Al Gore invented the Internet! This Berners-Lee guy must be a Republican.
Rating:
Summary: How to Trace WWW Origins.
Review: I work with the web all the time. It was insightful to read about how the web got started. I have to thank Tim Berners-Lee for spelling it out.
Rating:
Summary: Engaging background, future vision
Review: I've been online since 94, build sites, and teach web-related classes. This book is a wonderful testament to the *philosophy* of universal access -- freedom from hardware and software handcuffs that continue to plague general computing today. We (USA) don't stand for a lack of interoperability in other infrastructure products (phone, fax, gasoline, railroads, electricity, TV signals, etc). Why should we with computing systems? TBL says we don't have to. And thanks to him today, on the WWW, we don't. So it lacks background on TCP/IP. So what? This isn't a "technical" book. It's a history book; a philosophical treatise. One man's vision of technology as a community building tool. Where are we going? Where *should* we be going with this technology? How private is private - and why should you care? The second half of the book should be mandatory reading for all regulators and elected officials.
Rating: 
Summary: Mandatory Reading For Anyone Interested In the Web
Review: If you work on the web, use it frequently or derive your livelihood from it in some way, this is an outstanding work that presents the history and thinking that went into the development of the web. Tim details the early days of conceptualization of the web followed by the evolution to a research tool and onto the multifaceted web of today used for commerce, entertainment, research, communications and any number of other activities. He begins with the early days of the web as a project at CERN, the difficulty getting people to conceptualize a worldwide network of hypertext, (how long did it take you to "get it" when you were first introduced to the web?) its tremendous growth and commercialization in recent years, and his vision of the future. The book discusses the various interests that pull the web in different ways and the possibility of the development of a future "semantic web" in which a variety of standards and technologies combine to enable search engines to respond more intelligently to queries when people search for information on the web. The case is made that research, commerce, communication, and any number of other activities has its place on the web and all serve to enrich the web as a worldwide network of communication and knowledge. In order to continue to grow and thrive, there must be basic standardized protocols. In addition, no one party should be vertically integrated and grow large enough to be able to control access, technology, and content such that it inhibits the free flow of information and global communication. It would be tough to find a better figure to pioneer and contribute so profoundly to the development of the Internet and World Wide Web. Had it been pioneered and developed on proprietary patented protocols and technologies; access, usability, and overall usefulness of the web would be nowhere near what they are today. To gain an understanding of where the web came from, where it's headed, and how various companies, technologies and other interests may affect the future development of the web; pick up a copy of "Weaving the Web".
Rating:
Summary: Mandatory Reading For Anyone Interested In the Web
Review: If you work on the web, use it frequently or derive your livelihood from it in some way, this is an outstanding work that presents the history and thinking that went into the development of the web. Tim details the early days of conceptualization of the web followed by the evolution to a research tool and onto the multifaceted web of today used for commerce, entertainment, research, communications and any number of other activities. He begins with the early days of the web as a project at CERN, the difficulty getting people to conceptualize a worldwide network of hypertext, (how long did it take you to "get it" when you were first introduced to the web?) its tremendous growth and commercialization in recent years, and his vision of the future. The book discusses the various interests that pull the web in different ways and the possibility of the development of a future "semantic web" in which a variety of standards and technologies combine to enable search engines to respond more intelligently to queries when people search for information on the web. The case is made that research, commerce, communication, and any number of other activities has its place on the web and all serve to enrich the web as a worldwide network of communication and knowledge. In order to continue to grow and thrive, there must be basic standardized protocols. In addition, no one party should be vertically integrated and grow large enough to be able to control access, technology, and content such that it inhibits the free flow of information and global communication. It would be tough to find a better figure to pioneer and contribute so profoundly to the development of the Internet and World Wide Web. Had it been pioneered and developed on proprietary patented protocols and technologies; access, usability, and overall usefulness of the web would be nowhere near what they are today. To gain an understanding of where the web came from, where it's headed, and how various companies, technologies and other interests may affect the future development of the web; pick up a copy of "Weaving the Web".
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