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The Internet!
Invented by an Englishman Tim Berners-Lee though ask an American and he will say who? No way!

Eddie (Working with self appreciating Americans)

Heres the American version!

Eddie (Blood boiling)

Who gives a ****!!!! Whilst it may be one of the great tools of our lifetime when used correctly, it is also the bain of our lives and tends to dominate some people's lives.
What's wrong with talking to people face to face up picking up the telephone and having a conversation? What happened to letter writing?
With regard to fact finding, does anyone use the library these days to "look it up" in a book?
Rant of the day over from someone who remembers the time before the internet and we used a Commodore 64 for playing ping pong.

What have you just done?
Eddie

When one is deaf, one tends to take a different view of the Internet ( which I think is a Godsend! )

As with everything else (tools, technology, etc.), Kawa, the wise person just uses what is good, and disregards the rest!

If there was no web, there wouldn't be this forum, for example ...

Especially when considered on a global basis, I believe that the web has liberated the minds of millions, generally "leveled the playing field" and given hope to many. Yes, there are negative aspects, but that has also been the case with other great advances (the motor car, antibiotics, air travel, abuse of chemicals, human rights legislation etc, etc.). I think we can safely assume that there will always be idiots about (and in relatively large numbers, unfortunately).

And (lastly), if it wasn't for the web, C-64 enthusiasts would have remained in the closet (as it were). But now there is a thriving "community" on line! I reckon that most of those good old machines would have simply been binned if it wasn't for eBay (and I write this glancing across at the pile of my own 8-bit "classics")!

For any fellow geeks out there if you get a chance check out "Discovery Science Channel" "Download-The true story of the internet" Its actually very well done! Its presented by John Heilemann including a scene in a record store when he's talking about the post Napster court case asking "Was Napster doing anything wrong?" as he walks around the store stuffing Cd's into his pockets!

Eddie

info

Nice one.

As with many pioneers, those "early adopters" didn't really know where it was all heading. How could they? It always amazes me how "right" many of the early decisions made in all technologies turned out in the end.

There are many examples:- Gary Kildall with CP/M. Larry Page and Sergey Brin with Google. David Filo and Jerry Yang with Yahoo! Even Chuck Peddle with the 6502 processor.

(Huw and John with ebme)?

As regards the internet, surely we're still on the nursery slopes, as it were?

This afternoon (at a secret location near Hull) I had the pleasure of a second visit to the den in question, and can now confirm that, yes, the idea was to do it more cheaply. The boys had got hold of a complete circuit diagram for the BBC Micro, and my man (being the electronics hardware wiz of what became the gang of four) realised that he could "knock on up" one himself.

At the time the whole thing was kept pretty much under wraps, as no-one was sure how Acorn would have reacted had they got wind of the project.

Sorry, but I can't disclose what the guy is working on at the moment!

Or we would have to kill him type of thing!

Ed