Identifying the Second Boom of the Internet
Monday November 22nd 2004
Lately I've expressed to some friends of mine (those gracious enough to listen to my endless banter and soapboxing about web standards, accessibility, and the like) how I feel like "we" are on the cusp of a second boom of the internet. In the late 90's it was the boom of it's birth, where the internet hit mainstream: it entered our homes, became a consistent medium of information exchange and gathering, as well as a huge entertainment piece. Everyone wanted a website, so everyone started to build them.
Now that the internet is in all of our homes, and each of us possesses a small corner of the web, what's next? A Revolution, that's what.
What is impressive to realize though is that, even among this blazingly-fast world of 1000mbps transfers, pocket-sized computers, and finger-sized wireless phones, an internet revolution doesn't happen overnight. It's rather flegmatic actually, it oozes along so slowly. I've realized this because it isn't so much that I can see this Revolution coming from a distance. No no, I'm not the oracle I'd like to be. This Revolution has actually been taking place for years now, gaining speed and momentum in a truly grassroots fashion, and it is only now beginning to reach that magical Tipping Point, that maximum density whereupon change finally occurs.
Ok, I'll stop being vague and elusive and be out with it: the Internet's 2nd Revolution will come in the form of Web Standards. It will come in the form of stylesheets, valid code, cross-application portable documents, accessible modes of communication and information exchange, and all of the other magical things that people like Shea, Zeldman, Meyers, and the like have been saying for YEARS.
Is this really big news? Is it newsworthy to note that a movement that has been gaining momentum for half a decade is finally beginning to make an impact? Or rather, is it appropriate to equate that with something as declaratory as to call it a Revolution? Well, as a web developer that hasn't seen the kind of money or opportunity that once flooded the halls of internet companies, it sure sounds good to me.
Here's my thought: Every average joe at this point has put out a website. The web is officially saturated with websites and web developers. But it's all gobbledegook. It's a mish-mash of tangled code, proprietary tags, senseless tables. The only way to fix this mess is to hire REAL web developers, those who have been digging in the trenches for years and know how to properly assemble a clean, lean, and mean site. Soon, I say, people will start knocking down our doors, begging for help. And since the pool of able-bodied web-standards developers is so small, we'll get to rake it in for a change. We'll get to take back the power and opportunity in this industry. At last, we'll be hoisted from the trenches. . .
So sit tight, change is near. The Internet Revolution is about to begin, and if you're reading this, then you're a part of a wonderfully bright and small community across the world (I'd venture to say mere thousands globally) that is about to be paid its due.