The history of the Internet can be roughly divided into three phases. The first, from 1969 to 1990, was all about the inventors: people like Vint Cerf, Steve Crocker, and Robert Taylor.
The next phase, from 1991 to 1999, was a whirlwind that was fueled by entrepreneurs, people like Jerry Yang and Jeff Bezos. They latched on to Tim Berners-Lee’s invention of the World Wide Web and created companies that lived entirely in this new digital landscape.
The final phase, from 2000 through today, has primarily been about the users. New companies like Google and Facebook may have reaped the greatest financial rewards during this time, but none of their successes would have been possible without the contributions of ordinary people like you and me.
Every time we typed something into a text box and hit the “Submit” button, we created a tiny piece of a giant web of content. Even the generative AIs that pretend to make new things today are merely regurgitating words, phrases, and pictures that were created and shared by people.
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