Web66: The Internet, Gutenberg, and Windows...Web66: The Internet, Gutenberg, and Windows...As you install your personal web server, begin using Office97, and start seeing Microsoft Internet Explorer version 4.0, remember where you heard about it first!
"In the not very distant future, I predict we will no longer have web servers or browsers. This change is going to be easier and come faster than anyone might predict.
"We will no longer need separate browser programs, because every program will be able to obtain information from the web with a URL. In fact, programs will no longer be aware of where the data actually resides. It could be on your own hard disk or on a server on the other side of the world. All the program will know is the URL necessary to get the data. This means there will no longer be a distiction between your computer and the net. That physical and logical barrier will be erased..."
Stephen E. Collins, December 1994.
Quoted in the book WebMaster Macintosh, Copyright 1995
Academic Press Incorporated, by Bob Levitus & Jeff Evans,
"Chapter 6: Interviews with the Gods," p. 194-5.
"Over the past year, I've challenged Microsoft to address the opportunities presented by the Internet. If you looked around Microsoft and said 'What's the theme that's driving inovation here?' you would discover it is the Internet far more than anything else...Every product group--from Windows to Word to The Microsoft Network--has made supporting the Internet its top priority. For example, the Word group is charged with making Word an excellent way to author and read on-line content."
Bill Gates, August 15, 1995.
"And so now, Microsoft intends to weave the Web into the PC...Internet Explorer Version 4.0 will become an integral part of the Windows 95 operating system. Why does this matter? If it works as promised, and as recently demonstrated to a reporter, Microsoft's new technology will mean a much richer world of computer data for the millions of people whose PCs use Windows 95...from the user's standpoint, it will make little difference whether information resides on the computer's hard disk or on a Web server computer a hemisphere away."
John Markoff
The New York Times, CyberTimes, July 29, 1996
"The job of creating Web pages is something everyone will do every day -- instead of just the three pony-tailed kids in the back office," said Jerry Michalski
In the last six months of 1996, the landscape of the Internet has changed dramatically. Tasks that used to take a programmer and an HTML expert can now be completed by anyone with word processing skills. Setting up an Internet site is no longer a technical challenge. Browsing the the web is now a part of daily conversation. We are beginning to see the Internet transformation from a specialized resource to a universal communication medium.
Windows NT 4.0 was released in August of 1996 and was followed by the release of Microsoft FrontPage. Finally in January of 1997, Microsoft Office 97 was released. Combining these products with Windows 95 in an NT Network will provide any school with a powerful network and comprehensive Internet capabilities. It will also be a network that is easy to administer and support for almost anyone with minimal technical skills.
The tools available for Windows continue to multiply rapidly, more so than any other platform--this is especially true of Internet utilities. They continue to grow more powerful and become easier to use every day. Internet capabilities are being incorporated in to almost every information processing package.