Notes ..

The Virtual Revolution ..

Broadcast on the BBC in 2010.

• A small part of Africa have just been connected to the internet, if the internet does take off in Africa it'll reshape itself. 
• The internet has become a brain, it's the smartest brain in the world. 

Sir Tim Berners-lee = Invented the world wide web. 

                                  Argues the web is "connecting humanity" 

UK/England - Africa 

    The digital divide - digital haves and have nots. 

• 2 million people are online 
• "How mankind communicate" (Bill Gates)
• "Empowering tool" (Al Gore)
• Challenges authority VS. spying/censorship 

  

Does the internet level us? 

  > The web allows information to travel globally for free. 

  > 1/4 of the glob uses the internet.

• 18 million people read blogs (west london the most) - no limit to self expression.
• Wikipedia allows knowledge to be shaped together - proof of the involvement globally.
• 1985 (San Francisco) "The well" - without the well, facebook, twitter etc wouldn't have worked. 
• "The well" - The first source of internet (computer)
• The internet was a traditional theft.

Al Gore > Exciting and revolutionary prospect. 

- According to most of the internet, it's the biggest move, it's compared to the industrial revolution (Internet revolution.)

• "Greater levellers"
• "Challengers business models" 
• Power to the people equal across/voice"   

> 35 million log in everyday 

> 40% men watch porn 

> 5 million using dating sites. 

Wikipedia - Accuracy, free, ordinary people, undercuts authority. 

"Libertarianism (1960s) 

• Ushahidi - (whiteness) - Posting up examples of abuse & riots. 
• The web and internet are two different things. 
• 1965 emails were made.
• The web as we use it today is completely different to it in the beginning. 
• The story of the internet beginning started a century ago.
• 1991 - The first website went online 

Tim Berners-lee gave away the web for free, made no profit. 

Internet - "paradigm shift on a par with the printing press" 

The US Military came up with the idea of the internet.

• URL > Unique address for a document
• HTML > The universal language of the internet.
• Home computers > Altair 8000 

1999 - A man made a website called napstar. 

              - Allowing eople to share music illegally for free around the world. 

              - It went global, everybody broke the law for the first time because of just once website. 

The web has threatened any traditional ways of sharing information. 

UGC - Youtube, allows anybody to be seen 

         - 2005 Youtube first ever video.
2005 - YouTube's first ever video.

Master shortie - used the internet to promote himself

90% of the market (internet) was owned by Microsoft (Bill Gates) > Monopoly.

"Monetize"

95% of music isn't paid for.

• EBay gets 21 million views a month.
• Amazon gets 16 million views a month.
• The man who invented the web is worried for its future.                        - The webs leveling days are now over.
• Jimmy wells - cofounder of Wikipedia.
• 38 million search Google a month.                                                                - 1/3 now have a Facebook pages (there's no competition for Facebook.)

"The web is inventing society's" - Aleks Krotoski
"The web mirrors the high arki of the real world" 

90% of blogs users are dormant.
        - Nothing is actually happening (its sleeping.)