Customers need to be given control of their own data-not being tied into a certain manufacturer so that when there are problems they are always obliged to go back to them. Tim Berners-Lee More Quotes by Tim Berners-Lee More Quotes From Tim Berners-Lee Any good software engineer will tell you that a compiler and an interpreter are interchangeable. Tim Berners-Lee interpreter engineers software I hope we will use the Net to cross barriers and connect cultures. Tim Berners-Lee use crosses culture We should work toward a universal linked information system, in which generality and portability are more important than fancy graphics techniques and complex extra facilities. Tim Berners-Lee fancy technique important Universality has been the key enabler of innovation on the Web and will continue to be so in the future. Tim Berners-Lee internet innovation keys I'm very aware there are lots of other people who are just bright and working just as hard, with just the same dedication to make the world a good place. Tim Berners-Lee dedication people world The concept of the Web is of universal readership. Tim Berners-Lee readership universal internet One way to think about the magnitude of the changes to come is to think about how you went about your business before powerful Web search engines. You probably wouldn't have imagined that a world of answers would be available to you in under a second. The next set of advances will have an different effect, but similar in magnitude. Tim Berners-Lee different powerful thinking I think a lot of great software has been written by people who are scratching a short-term itch, something which has been niggling them for ages, but in the back of their mind they’ve got a wonderful long-term plan. Tim Berners-Lee long people thinking It's possible to live without the Web. It's not possible to live without water. But if you've got water, then the difference between somebody who is connected to the Web and is part of the information society, and someone who (is not) is growing bigger and bigger. Tim Berners-Lee growing differences water The story of the growth of the World Wide Web can be measured by the number of Web pages that are published and the number of links between pages. The Web's ability to allow people to forge links is why we refer to it as an abstract information space, rather than simply a network. Tim Berners-Lee space numbers people I should be able to pick which applications I use for managing my life, I should be able to pick which content I look at, and I should be able to pick which device I use, which company I use for supplying my internet, and I'd like those to be independent choices. Tim Berners-Lee independent choices looks The more you enter, the more you become locked in. Your social-networking site becomes a central platform - a closed silo of content, and one that does not give you full control over your information in it. The more this kind of architecture gains widespread use, the more the Web becomes fragmented, and the less we enjoy a single, universal information space. Tim Berners-Lee space over-you giving One of the things I like about the computer that I use is that I can write a program on it or I can download a program on to it and run it. That's kind of important to me, and that's also kind of important to the whole future of the internet... obviously a closed platform is a serious brake on innovation. Tim Berners-Lee innovation writing running It was the academic community who wired up their universities so it was put together by smart, well-meaning people who thought it was a good idea. Tim Berners-Lee smart people ideas Compared even to the development of the phone or TV, the Web developed very quickly. Tim Berners-Lee phones tvs development You can’t propose that something be a universal space and at the same time keep control of it. Tim Berners-Lee propose universal space What's very important from my point of view is that there is one web … Anyone that tries to chop it into two will find that their piece looks very boring. Tim Berners-Lee important views two My own personal preference is that the consumer, the individual person should be protected because individual people and the difference between individual people and the diversity we have between people on the planet is so important. Tim Berners-Lee diversity differences people The Domain Name Server (DNS) is the Achilles heel of the Web. The important thing is that it's managed responsibly. Tim Berners-Lee high-heels important names The Semantic Web isn't inherently complex. The Semantic Web language, at its heart, is very, very simple. It's just about the relationships between things. Tim Berners-Lee language simple heart