A Love Letter to HTML, a keynote at jQuery UK

25 years ago, the web was started as an idea for how to organise communication between a diverse group of people on a wide variety of devices. At the core, HTML holds it all together. Why did HTML and the web grow to dominate all other hypertext systems that came before, and go on to revolutionise human interaction? What is it about HTML that we should remember and respect, even as the web platform grows and changes?

Presented at jQuery UK, 16 May, 2014, in Oxford, England.
Read the audience reaction: https://storify.com/jensimmons/jquery-uk-talk

Transcript

1. A Love Letter
   to HTML
   Jen Simmons
   The Web Ahead
   

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4. HyperText
   

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5. Douglas
   Engelbart
   “The Mother
   of All Demos”
   Dec 1968
   

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11. The Computer
    Chronicles
    “HyperCard
    Mania!”
    1987
    

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12. Internet
    

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13. WWW =! Internet
    

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17. CompuServ
    The Source
    Delphi
    GEnie
    AppleLink
    eWorld
    America OnLine
    

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19. FTP
    BBS
    eMail
    Usenet
    LISTSERV
    IRC
    Gopher
    1971
    1973
    1973
    1979
    1986
    1988
    1991
    

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25. photo by Anna Pantelia /CERN. Used with permission.
    

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30. Proportion of FTP, web (HTTP), Gopher, News (NNTP), Mail (SMTP), Telnet, IRC and DNS traffic on the NSFNET backbone 1992-1995
    Journal of the American Society for Information Science (JASIS), November, Vol. 48, No. 11.
    Brian R. Gaines, Lee Li-Jen Chen and Mildred L. G. Shaw, Knowledge Science Institute, University of Calgary
    

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32. Why?
    

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33. Flexible
    

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34. “I would have to create a system with common rules that
    would be acceptable to everyone. This meant as close as
    possible to no rules at all.
    This notion seemed impossible until I realized that the
    diversity of different computer systems and networks
    could be a rich resource — something to be represented,
    not a problem to be eradicated.”
    — Tim Berners-Lee
    

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35. No Central Authority
    

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36. No Permission Needed
    

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37. No Central Directory
    

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38. One-way Linking
    

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39. Universal
    

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40. Designed to Reduce
    Barriers to Entry
    

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41. Simple
    

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42. Forgiving
    

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43. Declarative
    

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44. Remarkable
    

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45. “The magic of the web is getting to know other
    people, really know them, who you would
    otherwise never have had the chance to meet.”
    — Carolyn Wood
    

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47. Thanks!
    Jen Simmons
    @jensimmons
    The Web Ahead
    5by5.tv/webahead
    

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