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posted by LaminatorX on Sunday November 02 2014, @04:47AM   Printer-friendly
from the ontology-fail dept.

In a short interview with the San Jose Mercury News, Tim Berners-Lee, the creator of the World Wide Web, touts the W3C's HTML 5 standard, which was finally published last week after eight years of work. Sir Berners-Lee sees HTML 5 as advancing the Web as the central platform for delivering Internet content and applications, to mobile devices as well as PC users.

Q. How do you use the Web? Are there any sites or services that you use regularly?

A. We do all our work at the W3C on the Web — everything. We have a mantra: If it's not on the Web, it doesn't exist. When discussing things in a meeting, everything we do, the minutes of the meetings, it's always on the Web.

Some other quick takes on HTML 5 are here.

Related Stories

Sir Tim Berners-Lee Talks about the Web Again 43 comments

Sir Tim Berners-Lee gave an interview with radio station WBUR about the state of the Web and its future:

Berners-Lee initially imagined the web as a beautiful platform that could help us overcome national and cultural boundaries. He envisioned it would break down silos, but many people today believe the web has created silos.

And he still largely sees the potential of the web, but the web has not turned out to be the complete cyber Utopian dream he had hoped. He's particularly worried about the dark side of social media — places where he says anonymity is being used by "misogynist bullies, by nasty people who just get a kick out of being nasty."

He also identified personal data privacy, the spread of misinformation, and a lack of transparency in online political advertising as major problems with the current Web in a letter marking the World Wide Web's 28th birthday last month.

Previously: World Wide Web Turns 25 years Old
Tim Berners-Lee Proposes an Online Magna Carta
Berners-Lee on HTML 5: If It's Not on the Web, It Doesn't Exist
The First Website Went Online 25 Years Ago
Berners-Lee: World Wide Web is Spy Net
Tim Berners-Lee Just Gave us an Opening to Stop DRM in Web Standards


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  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by forsythe on Sunday November 02 2014, @05:57AM

    by forsythe (831) on Sunday November 02 2014, @05:57AM (#112358)

    What he's saying seems like a good point for an organization that has an interest in making their proceedings open. I doubt Sir Berners-Lee would claim that the documents on my hard drive don't exist, in any sense of the word.

    • (Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Sunday November 02 2014, @08:34AM

      by maxwell demon (1608) on Sunday November 02 2014, @08:34AM (#112365) Journal

      Also I guess what he does with his wife in the bedroom isn't on the web either. He surely wouldn't therefore conclude that it doesn't exist.

      --
      The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
      • (Score: 2) by FatPhil on Sunday November 02 2014, @12:13PM

        by FatPhil (863) <pc-soylentNO@SPAMasdf.fi> on Sunday November 02 2014, @12:13PM (#112387) Homepage
        Somebody needs to get photoshopping, and paste his head onto some compromising photos!

        He clearly hasn't considered the opposite point of view - does everythng that's on the web really need to exist? I occasionally do some quite obscure web searches, and the number of times I hit robo-generated link farms is scary. The SNR of the web is scarily low. In particular in the bang-per-byte. Do you remember the days when google squashed their home search page to be as small as possible (in source size), to keep their bandwidth down? Now they're shipping 16 kilobytes of javascript with every page load even to people like me who don't have JS enabled. I have written OSes that take up less than 16 kilobytes.
        --
        Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
      • (Score: 2) by aristarchus on Sunday November 02 2014, @06:34PM

        by aristarchus (2645) on Sunday November 02 2014, @06:34PM (#112454) Journal

        He surely wouldn't therefore conclude that it doesn't exist.

        Yes, but you should conclude that it doesn't!

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 02 2014, @09:22PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 02 2014, @09:22PM (#112480)

        What does he do with his wife in the bedroom?

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 02 2014, @09:34AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 02 2014, @09:34AM (#112371)

      Yes, he basically said they eat own dogfood.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 03 2014, @05:16AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 03 2014, @05:16AM (#112530)

      It's preceded by the phrase: "Berners-Lee on HTML 5". Makes it clear enough that what he's talking about is HTML 5 and its standardisation process.

  • (Score: 2) by acid andy on Sunday November 02 2014, @09:26AM

    by acid andy (1683) on Sunday November 02 2014, @09:26AM (#112370) Homepage Journal

    HTML 5: If it's not compatible with the old browsers on the web, it doesn't exist. Seriously though, that's the way I first read his quote in the headline.

    --
    If a cat has kittens, does a rat have rittens, a bat bittens and a mat mittens?
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 02 2014, @11:39AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 02 2014, @11:39AM (#112380)

    During the dot-com boom especially there was concern about "The Digital Divide" which was the problem that low-income people, or whole nations, when those nations were not as economically well-off as the industrialized ones, could not afford the Internet infrastructure, purchase of computers and so on.

    But today, in 2014, living in the quite prosperous Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Washington metropolitan areas, I've met a great many people who tell me they don't use computers because they don't want to.

    One such is a Clark County, Washington Deputy Sheriff. I expect he uses computers on the job, but only because he has to. When he's off work he does not use computers in any way. He does not own any manner of computing device and does not have Internet service into his home.

    I am quite distressed about this as it is increasingly the case that there are things one cannot do without the use of computers or the Internet, sometimes very important things.

    A particularly egregious example is that while one registers to vote in California, if one fears that one might be attacked by a stalker, one can only request that one's contact information be removed from the public voter registration record by visiting a certain website. Why isn't there a checkbox on the registration form for that, or a paper form that one could mail in?

    When I was volunteering for a presidential candidate back in the day, the registrar of voters gave us a hardcopy of the home addresses as well as most of the telephone numbers of the county's registered voters.

    • (Score: 2) by fnj on Sunday November 02 2014, @01:07PM

      by fnj (1654) on Sunday November 02 2014, @01:07PM (#112394)

      Are you telling me this bird brain does not own a fucking smartphone?

      I know a lot of old people who will not use computers even to stay in contact via email and such. They are all old people. Not just chronologically over 60, but hopelessly old in their mentality. Old is what you make it. I am 67, but I have something like 20 computers in my home. I program and administer servers not just because it's my background and enjoyment but because you have to keep mentally active. For some people it's doing crosswords. For others it's programming and studying history in depth.

      • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 03 2014, @04:48AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 03 2014, @04:48AM (#112529)

        Now I do have a computer, I myself am into computers.

        But actually most people I know don't own smartphones.

        The phone I've got set me back $12.99. It makes really good voice calls. That's all I really want it for.

        I am planning to buy an iPhone sometime soon, but only for the development of Apps. I expect I'll keep using my $12.99 phone for actual calls.

        The people I discuss, who don't use computers because they do not want to, are not all old people. Most of them are younger than me (I am fifty).

    • (Score: 2) by meisterister on Sunday November 02 2014, @09:24PM

      by meisterister (949) on Sunday November 02 2014, @09:24PM (#112481) Journal

      You want to know something? I can see why. To be blunt, computers kind of suck. You basically get for hundreds if not thousands of dollars, a machine that frequently breaks, gets attacked by people who may not even be in your country (keep in mind that this is to a first time user who doesn't really know that the internet is full of terrible people), and isn't significantly better for tasks that someone is particularly skilled in. For just about every person who doesn't either have to do heavy number crunching or content production, computers offer no real benefit.

      I can write letters on a typewriter, make copies with a photocopier and distribute them via mail. Does that involve paying monthly tribute to the local internet monopoly? No. Does it involve using some black box proprietary software (which most people use)? No. Does it take a bit longer? Yes, but the other way isn't really worth the cost.

      Don't get me wrong, I love my computers and am involved in a field that uses them heavily. It's just that I see where people like this are coming from and really don't blame them for it, especially when asshats are out there clogging their web pages with Javascript and Flash (which is pretty much the only reason people stay on the upgrade treadmill at all now).

      --
      (May or may not have been) Posted from my K6-2, Athlon XP, or Pentium I/II/III.
  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 02 2014, @12:39PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 02 2014, @12:39PM (#112390)

    ===http://html5doctor.com/the-ride-to-5/
    "HTML began 25 years ago to provide content and links, the initial flesh and bones of the web. HTML5 is still the basis of a web of links and content, but it is now also the user interface part of an entire computing platorm. Now every web page can be programmed like a computer. That is a huge change, and we can only imagine what will be deployed in the future on top of the Open Web Platform." ---Tim Berners-Lee

    GET FUCKED Berners-Lee! Why don't you (and your Google friends in the White House) just fuck off and retire you asslicking establishment rats!

    ....I don't own any black-box spyware hard-coded gadgets (aka Mobile Phones or Tablets) or any hardware which behaves like something out of the TV show 'Person of Interest'. ......I don't want my internet software to become a 'plugin' for an operating system floating in cyber-space! .....I don't give permission to Facebook, Google Analytics, Twitter, Disqus and all the other dogs to log my life and habits across the internet .....I don't give permission to Super-Duper JSON Javascript API functions to run amok on my machine!

    Believe it or not, I just don't get excited by webpages having a graphical experience like a bleading-edge video game; it distracts me from getting work done! it's all eye-candy bullshit adding layers and layers of complexity to a thing which is already complex to start with! I really enjoy GUI interfaces which sit as thinly as possible on top of a command line interface; I want full control and understanding of how the frontend and backend are talking to each other---at all times! If anything gets in my way and complicates this, then it is either redundant bullshit designed by a sociopath or it is a subliminal play for 'power and control' by a corrupted force---NOTHING AT ALL TO DO WITH HELPING ME ACHIEVE ENLIGHTENMENT OR SELF-SUFFICIENCY!

    • (Score: 2) by meisterister on Sunday November 02 2014, @09:12PM

      by meisterister (949) on Sunday November 02 2014, @09:12PM (#112477) Journal

      +1 to this.

      --
      (May or may not have been) Posted from my K6-2, Athlon XP, or Pentium I/II/III.
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 03 2014, @10:54AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 03 2014, @10:54AM (#112567)

      I really enjoy GUI interfaces which sit as thinly as possible on top of a command line interface; I want full control and understanding of how the frontend and backend are talking to each other---at all times! If anything gets in my way and complicates this, then it is either redundant bullshit designed by a sociopath or it is a subliminal play for 'power and control' by a corrupted force

      It's fine for you to prefer ultra-minimalistic GUIs that are effectively graphical skins for CLI, but it's idiotic to claim that designing GUIs for anybody with different preferences means the developer is a sociopath or trying to impose subliminal mind control on you. What on Earth makes you think a standard GUI would be able to have that effect, or what they'd try to "make" you do even if it could -- buy more Cheetos, listen to cheesy 60s music, perhaps, or.....????

      Seriously -- somebody whose main talent is composing music, writing screenplays, training animals, painting, medical care, or other things benefits far more by a GUI that lets them accomplish things on the computer quickly & easily so they can focus on what *they* are good at and find interesting. They're sure as hell not going to benefit from a GUI that forces them to waste time learning obscure commands for things they could achieve far faster with a mouse.

      ---NOTHING AT ALL TO DO WITH HELPING ME ACHIEVE ENLIGHTENMENT OR SELF-SUFFICIENCY!

      Neither is memorizing or using obscure CLI interfaces or minimalistic GUIs -- in fact, doing so is detrimental to a quest for "enlightenment" or "self-sufficiency" due to the extra time it requires.

      You want real enlightenment? Read a wide variety of books acclaimed for their wisdom & insight (whether it's Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird or Dr. Seuss' The Sneeches), go to see brilliant plays like "Wit", learn/contemplate the philosophies by the brilliant historic philosophers like Kant, Bentham, and Socrates, volunteer as a companion for lonely seniors, study rhetoric, volunteer with the kids staying in a research hospital, study psychology & how people handle adversity or trauma, learn how to rehab abused & feral horses or cats or dogs, explore other parts of the world if you can afford to... You won't find enlightenment just by using technology, however fascinating you find it.

      You want to be self-sufficient? Try growing your own fruit & vegetables, learning how to train animals, sew (or at least mend things), cook a variety of things & change recipes on the fly, perform basic first aid, basic house repairs, make/repair wooden items -- for that matter, learn to play an instrument and write stories, as they're the underlying building-blocks of entertainment media. Like it or not, the reality is that you could easily get by on your own or in a small village without knowing a single command-line term -- but you wouldn't last long if you can't feed & clothe yourself and have something to offer others that they will value enough to do things for you in return.

  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by FatPhil on Sunday November 02 2014, @12:47PM

    by FatPhil (863) <pc-soylentNO@SPAMasdf.fi> on Sunday November 02 2014, @12:47PM (#112391) Homepage
    When will HTML5.1 come out? (or HTML6, whatever it's called that updates/replaces HTML5)

    If they really think they've created the be all and end all of web standards, then surely they can disband the committee and go home?
    --
    Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
    • (Score: 1) by Refugee from beyond on Sunday November 02 2014, @10:28PM

      by Refugee from beyond (2699) on Sunday November 02 2014, @10:28PM (#112491)

      Depends on who those "they" are. As HTML, as defined by WHATWG, is a living standard. W3C seems to have an idea of making snapshots, though.

      --
      Instantly better soylentnews: replace background on article and comment titles with #973131.
  • (Score: 2) by PizzaRollPlinkett on Sunday November 02 2014, @08:41PM

    by PizzaRollPlinkett (4512) on Sunday November 02 2014, @08:41PM (#112472)

    So I'll keep it off the web.

    --
    (E-mail me if you want a pizza roll!)
  • (Score: 2) by Lagg on Monday November 03 2014, @01:19AM

    by Lagg (105) on Monday November 03 2014, @01:19AM (#112518) Homepage Journal

    I'm really getting tired of him as of late. He may have had a huge part but he is not as deserving of respect as people think he is (I would think this would be obvious from the crap bloating out HTML5 including the stuff to accommodate DRM), especially since the web as it exists now had nothing to do with him. In fact if he had his way it'd be an insecure mess. He also doesn't really understand how computers work and says such stupid things as

    Now every web page can be programmed like a computer. That is a huge change, and we can only imagine what will be deployed in the future on top of the Open Web Platform.

    Not only is the first sentence outright false, but he has this weird fetish for buzzwords that in reality don't mean anything. I wish people would stop taking anything he says seriously. He shouldn't have even been allowed to partake in the HTML5 drafting.

    --
    http://lagg.me [lagg.me] 🗿