Week 1 Assignment

As We May Think - Vannevar Bush

Upon reading Vannevar Bush’s “As We May Think” I was amazed by how accurate his predictions of modern technology were. Bush acknowledged the importance and convenience of being able to not only efficiently store mass amounts of data, but be able to retrieve it seamlessly. Although the article was published several decades ago, he was able to conceptualize technologies that resembled today’s iPhone and photography tools.

Long Live the Web - Tim Berners-Lee

Three decades ago Tim Berners-Lee created the World Wide Web. In his essay “Long Live The Web” Lee advocates for its protection and a return to the egalitarian principles it was originally built on. In recent years, it has become a money grabbing tool in which large site creators have blocked off information from being accessed by anyone on the Web as well as internet providers deliberately slowing down access to sites that they are not in a monetary agreement with. This can thwart future advancements and success with the Web. Lee also argues that the government’s attempt to monitor users’ online habits is an infringement on one’s human rights. Not only was the Web designed to be a public resource, it has become a crucial component to free speech as it has made a worldwide conversation possible making it essential to democracy.

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