2.037: #20years of the web, as seen by the storage anarchist

Since I blogged about the latest edition of EMC's On Magazine (the web at 20) earlier this week, the magazine has attracted lots of attention. Some might find it odd that it is an information storage company that tackled this story first, especially given the significance that a 20 year anniversary justifies.

As an EMC insider, it was no surprise to me at all when the preview copy arrived in my office at the beginning of January. As I pulled it out of the red interoffice envelope and read the simple Post-It note attached to the front, I instantly recognized and respected the intent and foresight of the team behind the magazine.

The note said simply:

ON will be available on www.emc.com on 1/18.
Is there a blog here for your audience?

(Happens all the time, by the way. I even get emails from competitors about impending product announcements asking if I want a preview before the announcement. Tempting though these offers may be, so far I have dutifully rejected them. But hey, it says right up front I'm an EMC employee.)

So I read the magazine, and as I said, learned a lot about how we got where we are today, and where we may be going. Blogged a post about the magazine and moved on.

Then Len Devanna tagged me to answer the questions posed in the magazine:

• How has the Web changed your life?
• How has the Web changed business and society?
• What do you think the Web will look like in twenty years?

Not being one to shirk a challenge, here's a peek at my perspectives:
 

the web has changed my life, indeed

Twenty years ago I was doing product marketing and strategy at Banyan Systems. One of Banyan's claims to fame was StreetTalk, a distributed naming directory for users and network resources (remember, BarryBurke@Marketing@Banyan?). And in fact, many customers adopted Banyan VINES because of StreetTalk – or more appropriately, because of the scalable email infrastructure (oft-called BMAIL) that came with it (EMC once used BMAIL, as did Compaq and many Government Agencies).

In retrospect, email was then in its adolescence, at least by today's standards. Notes and Outlook had yet to emerge; the market was dominated largely by proprietary offerings like IBM PROFS, Wang Office and (indeed) BMAIL. But the use of UNIX was also on the verge of exploding, and most email products offered some form of gateway into SMTP-based hosts that at the time formed the real backbone of extra-organization email communications. In fact, a few years prior, (while at Adelie Corp), I had personally managed the UUCP server and its bank of 2400 BAUD modems we used to pass email to contacts at other companies and to collect our UUNET news feeds. I remember back then wishing for something better than dial-up for communications that a small start-up company could afford.

I also had what at the time was a huge luxury for most – 2400 baud dial-up access to CompuServe at home. This afforded me not only email, but "on-line" access to the News Feeds and the ability to pay my bills on-line directly via Quicken (yeah, I started out with Version 1).

I bring all this up because of the other significant event that occurred for me 20 years ago this year – I got married to my beautiful wife in June of 1990. We were living together at the time, house sitting her old boss' house while Wang had him relocated in Europe for a year. A beautiful Victorian in the right side of town that came complete with furnishings, pre-paid oil heat, and a dedicated phone line for my dial-out "email access."

In the days before cell phones and high-speed internet to your home, this was the dream: a dedicated phone line with (essentially) unlimited network access. And I even had my own "at name" where anyone in the world could email me: 11256.25@CompuServe.com (not my real address, mind you).

Long story short, I think email and UUNET were my muse, my motivation and my enabler to become an internet geek (and more recently, a Social Media nerd addict). I was attracted to the ability to communicate with anyone, at any time, like moths to bright lights or bees to fresh pollen. And as the internet emerged and high-speed access became more widely available (I later moved to Applix Corporation where we had not one but TWO full T1 links into the Internet), I became more and more engaged. A few short years later, I joined the likes of Bill Joy and others on stage at Sun to announce Java, demonstrating what was inarguably the first web-based office automation system written entirely in Java, Applix Anyware. Even met Mark Andreessen (inventor of NetScape) in the process, but that's another story.

the web has changed our world, too

To most of us who were already in the work force 20 years ago, the changes brought on by the Web are pretty obvious. The internet enabled true any-to-any "real time" email, allowing us to collaborate with practically anyone in the free world. The proliferation of "Web 1.0" web sites allowed companies of any size to speak directly with consumers, leveling the playing field for start ups and giants in so many ways. We saw search emerge, first as a means for finding information, then as a monetization platform for microeconomic advertising. Everyone in the world can find just about any information they seek with an average of 1.4 words typed into Google or Bing (ok, ALMOST everyone – China's still blocking sites).

But I think, personally, that the web has changed the world of business and society in more subtle, but perhaps even more impactful ways than just information access and communications. The internet has brought us the first practical "crowd sourcing" platform, and it has changed the way students learn. Today, faced with an original problem, people of all ages and backgrounds are more likely to reach out to the web for guidance than they are to try to invent their own solution. The internet has become our Phone-A-Friend, except we (almost) always get helpful answers and useful guidance. And why not? In this world of instant gratification and immediate results, why shouldn't we leverage all available resources. As my math teacher friend told me before he retired, the kids are going to have access to calculators when they get a job, so why should we ban calculators from the classroom? It's not cheating; in fact, many of our younger generations will point out that it's a waste of important time and energy for them NOT to use technology to get the right answers faster.

Even more subtle, and perhaps even more significant, is how the always-on instant-messaging connectivity to any device is changing how we communicate. And I'm not just talking about the amazing amount of information you can communicate within the 140 character limits of Twitter. It's what you can DO with the likes of Twitter and IM that's changing the world. W. Curtis Preston found out first-hand when he tweeted for some assistance on a problem he was working on and received offers of help from unknown sources who just happened to be the experts on the topic (see his Why I love twitter post). Similarly, my son has over over 4400 followers on his twitter account that he leverages not only to share and discuss ideas, but as sort of a social media living reference for what works and doesn't in this whacky new world of tweets and blogs. (He still gets many of his best SoMe marketing ideas from his dad in face-to-face communications, though – I think he's blocked my DM's for some reason :).

Bottom line, when kids can report in to their parents via IM from their phone, or when a nation can contribute directly to the Red Cross relief fund for Haiti with a simple SMS text, the Web has inarguably changed our world. For the better, I may add.

the web isn't through with its overhaul, either

The Web of the future will undoubtedly be as radically different 20 years from now as is the 25/15 FIOS service I have today verses the 2400 baud dial-up I had 20 years ago. And while we could talk of Cloud and transparent information access and the like, I think the next era of the web will be more centered around information integration than virtual computing and access.

What does that mean, you ask?

Over the next few decades, I see the Internet becoming more and more integrated into our daily existence. Not like iPhone or BlackBerry integrated, more like the fundamental way electricity is integrated into the way we live. We pretty much don't pay attention to electricity anymore, at least, not until it's unavailable. And I think the Internet is heading the same way…I say we will soon stop thinking about the Internet in terms of browsers and search engines and dynamic newspapers or marketing collateral.

And it will happen because the internet will be integrated into everything we do, into virtually every aspect of our life.

What I see as leading indicators of this integration is not the whole Twitter/FaceBook/Social Media Marketing thing we're living through today. Rather, it's things like the BayWeb IP thermostat that I tweeted about a few weeks ago. Here we have a device that anyone with a screwdriver and an IP router can install to gain remote access to the thermostats in his/her home. And while that alone isn't revolutionary in itself (you've been able to get similar remote access via telephone-based gadgets for years now – see the parallel to my "back then" story?). No, it's the fact that the thermostat itself requires an internet connection for you to configure it.

While non-geeks may not find this particularly attractive, I say that this is a precursor to the future. See, this modem establishes a safe, one-way connection to its cloud-based mother ship application, where all the data about what's going on INSIDE my house (temperature, motion sensors, home/away settings, etc.) are able to be correlated with the local weather goings-on OUTSIDE my home. That's right, by registering a near-by weather observation center, the cloud-based BayWeb-supplied application can track how my furnace and A/C perform under different outdoor combinations of temperature, wind and sunshine. Eventually (though it doesn't yet do this), the temperature in my house (or my beach condo) will be entirely controlled by this cloud-based service, pre-heating the house optimally for my arrival home each evening based on the most efficient use of furnace and solar induction, and considering the impacts of wind and outside temperature on my desired time/temp targets. Heck, the application also asks for my costs to heat/cool (which one day will be snagged from my gas/electric providers, to be sure), and presents me with an analysis of where my environmental control dollars are going.

Now, imagine every aspect of your life connected to the Web. You car: automated service, drive-by-wire, complete economical analysis of your transportation. Your refrigerator. No more shopping or worrying about what's out of date.

And what's most important about this is that it will be so ubiquitous as to be no more special than is the electricity that lights our homes…someday soon, we will simply take the internet as an integral part of our existence.

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OK, so thanks for indulging my historical retrospective and prognostications. Love to hear how others will answer these 3 questions – how about I tag EMCers Polly Pearson and Dave Graham for their perspectives. And for outside EMC, Stephen Foskett, what say you, sir?

#20years anyone?

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[edit]
FULL DISCLOSURE: The thermostats referenced above are available from www.bayweb.com. I have purchased 3 of these at the standard price through normal sales/distribution channels. BayWEB has not provided me with any incentives, direct or indirect, to mention their products on my blog. This is not an endorsement, I just happen to think their products foretell of the future that the internet and cloud computing will provide to the average person over the next couple of decades.

Plus, they really appeal to my inner geek. YMMV!
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technorati tags: #20years,EMC,On Magazine,the web at 20

Comments

[Len Devanna]

And, of course, your house will know to adjust the temperature based on the fact that your car let it know you were almost home. Gosh I love technology...

Thanks for sharing, Barry. This issue of ON Magazine has really helped bring back some fond memories and generate some interesting discussions. Can't wait to see where others share.

LD