CNN poll on Top 10 web moments
Matt Cutts, a Google employee who is also a prominent blogger, discusses a CNN poll which asked users to name the 10 most significant events in the history of the World Wide Web. The poll is to celebrate 15 years of the WWW and offers these choices:
10. WiFi hotspots -- wireless Internet connectivity appears in airports, hotels and even McDonald's.
9. Webcams and photo sharing -- communication becomes visual, and inboxes fill with baby photos. 8. Skype -- telephony turns upside down with free long-distance calls, Ebay snaps it up in September 2005 for $2.6 billion.
7. Live 8 on AOL -- five million people watch poverty awareness concerts online in July 2005, setting a new Net record.
6. Napster goes offline -- Regulators close the pioneering music swap site in July 2001 and file-sharing goes offshore.
5. Lewinsky scandal -- Matt Drudge breaks the Clinton/Lewinsky sex scandal in 1998. The blog is born.
4. Tsunami and 9/11 -- two tragic events set the Web alight with opinion and amateur video.
3. Boom and bust -- trillions of dollars were made and lost as the dotcom bubble ballooned and burst between 1995 and 2001.
2. Hotmail -- went from having zero users in 1995 to 30 million subscribers 30 months later. It now has 215 million users.
1. Google -- redefined search. Invented a new advertising model and commands a vast business empire.
Matt doesn't think much of the poll, saying that it is difficult to trust when webcams are included but RSS, XML and AJAX are not. I can't say I agree with Matt there, even today your average websurfer wouldn't have a clue what RSS, XML and AJAX were. Commenters on Matt's post offer a variety of other opinions, some of which I disagree with, and a couple of which simply made me laugh (modems? HTML? How can these be 'Top 10 Web moments'?)
My own nominations would include most of the CNN list, barring the Live8 coverage and Skype. I would also rephrase number 6 so that it recognises the creation of Napster rather than its demise. However I think there are some glaring omissions. My other nominations would be:
I'm sure I've forgotten some, but I think these deserve a place on that list. Has anyone else got any suggestions?Netscape - the first popular graphical web browser, sparks the 'browser wars'
WYSIWYG HTML editors - it's 1995, PageMill is released, and suddenly anyone can build a webpage
Javascript - webpages become interactive, later develops into AJAX
Amazon - dramatically shook up e-commerce with great prices and fast worldwide delivery
ICQ - instant messaging enters the public consciousness via a tiny Israeli company
eBay - wasting time on the web while at work explodes in popularity and propels thousands into earning a living in their pajamas
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