Yesterday morning, whilst doing some SEO work, I realised I didn’t have any milk for a cup of tea, so I nipped down to one of my neighbourhood’s many local shops to replenish.
On the drive there and back some language on BBC Radio 4 caught my attention, and within a minute or so, I realised it was Sir Tim Berners-Lee who was speaking to Lauren Laverne on Desert Island Discs.
“You were literally writing the hypertext that still provides the building blocks for the web as we know it today. I know that 404 not found is a great line, it’s one of yours…”
Now THAT obviously piqued my interest. Sir Tim Berners-Lee, or TimBL, as he’s affectionately known, is a quiet hero of mine. As a computer scientist, best know for being the inventor of the World Wide Web (WWW), Hyper Text Mark-up Language (HTML), and Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP), Berners-Lee created the universe that I started to explore in 1997 and where I placed my first web page in 1998.
Basically, Sir Tim Berners-Lee created the platform that has given me so much joy and provided me with a profession for the past 25 years. I owe a lot to him as do so many others. To hear him being interviewed on a mainstream channel is unusual, so it was really great to hear what he had to say.
The CERN Connection
Sir Tim Berners-Lee made conducted his most profound work whilst working at CERN, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, one of the world’s largest and most respected centres for scientific research. As such, CERN has been an important “emerald city” since the late 1990s, and home to the large hadron collider, one of the most profound experiments in physics.
So when a clever cousin of mine, no, not the one who won a Pulitzer Prize, but another one, an electrical engineering graduate, worked at CERN for a year, I was immensely proud and impressed.
But back to Sir Tim…
From ENQUIRE to the World Wide Web
Sir Tim was at CERN from 1980 as a software engineering consultant. It was during this initial stint that he built ENQUIRE, a project that served as the primordial soup for the Web. He wanted a way to share information among researchers who were all using different systems and softwares – a “web” of nodes and links that didn’t care what computer you were using.
He returned to CERN in 1984, and by 1989, he saw his opportunity. He famously wrote a memo titled “Information Management: A Proposal.” His boss at the time, Mike Sendall, reportedly wrote three words on the cover that changed history: “Vague but exciting.”
By 1990, using a NeXT computer (ironically developed by Steve Jobs during his hiatus from Apple), TimBL had written the first web browser and the first web server.
The 404 and the Philosophy of Openness
What struck me most during the Desert Island Discs interview was the discussion around the “404 Not Found” error. While it’s become a cultural meme, for Tim, it was just a logical necessity of a decentralised system.
But the real “hero” move wasn’t just the invention; it was the gift. Sir Tim and CERN ensured that the code for the Web was released into the public domain in 1993 without any royalties:
- No patents.
- No licensing fees.
- Just a platform for the world to build upon.
If he had chosen to monetise it, the internet as we know it, and my career along with it, likely wouldn’t exist. We’d be stuck in a fragmented world of “walled gardens” owned by proprietary corporations.
A Legacy of Connectivity
Hearing him discuss his “discs” (his musical choices) reminded me that behind the knighthood and the Turing Award is a man driven by a very human desire: collaboration. Whether it’s discussing the future of data privacy or the early days of HTML, his focus remains on how we can use this “universe” to better understand one another.
As I pulled back into my driveway with the milk, I sat for a moment after the engine cut out. It’s easy to get bogged down in the day-to-day of SEO, keywords, and rankings. But hearing the “Architect” himself reminds me that at its core, the Web is about connection. And for that, I’ll happily take a 404 error any day, as long as the rest of the links keep leading us forward.
And Sir Tim’s Desert Island Discs?
Sir Tim’s appearance on Desert Island Discs was a rare and fascinating glimpse into the playlist of the man who gave us the world wide web.
His musical choices were an eclectic mix of classic rock, 90s alternative, and even some modern folk-rock, proving that the father of the web has pretty great taste in “human” connection through music.
Sir Tim’s Desert Island Playlist
Every guest is expected to list 8 discs and “save one from the waves”. These are TimBL’s desert island discs…
- Take Me Home, Country Roads – John Denver
- Brandy in the Airidh – Peat & Diesel
- Purple Haze – The Jimi Hendrix Experience
- Heart-Shaped Box – Nirvana
- High and Dry – Radiohead (This was his favourite track)
- Last Nite – The Strokes
- Electrical Storm – U2
- Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It) – Beyoncé
Now that was quite a varied list, which is fantastic, and shows the variety and imagination of the man.
Personally, I love his Hendrix, Nirvana, and Radiohead tracks. The Strokes were cool, and I must admit I’m not so familiar with the U2 track after I gave up on them by their Zoo Tour.
Listen for yourself: If you’d like to hear for yourself what this esteemed computer scientist had to say on the classic BBC Radio 4 show, have a listen here.