Kevin Le

w-t-f is the world wide web?

At the beginning of the semester, I would have said the World Wide Web
was simply a collection of websites hosted or deployed on the internet.

Yet, even from our first class, it proved to be something more than that.
We started with Tim Berners-Lee and his philosophy that the World Wide Web
was a place to share information easily across groups, with the goal of the
web to be universal and free.

His philosophy stuck with me early in the semester, as it stresses that everything
on the web is somewhat of a right for everyone. There have been more promising
moments of this, especially with the guest lecturers. They made Berners-Lee's
philosophy of the World Wide Web seem more plausible. Specifically, having such
a close look into their work and lives, we have seen how these designers and
developers work towards sharing and spreading their work. However, there have
been moments when tech monopolies prevent this goal. A landmark example is
Microsoft embedding Internet Explorer with Windows, forcing a specific agenda.

So now I'd argue that the World Wide Web is subjective, defined by how you choose
to engage with it. It can be a collection of websites, each with a unique goal, or
it can be something far more personal.

I would define it closer to Berners-Lee's original vision: a space meant for everyone,
where technical and artistic work can link their own audience. That idea has shaped how
I approached my own work this semester, and it's something I hope to carry forward.