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Before anyone thinks I am slagging off Berners-Lee for
his knighthood, be clear that I am not. I think it is
an honor richly deserved. My reasons may not be the
same as those who chose, but I hope they are: he
accomplished what he set out to do and his accomplishment
benefits many, almost, everyone. That is rare and much
richer than a long list of hit records. I think James
Clark is in that category too but it isn't as obvious
to the throne and the grey men as it is to us, so perhaps
he fails the obviousness test. But he deserves it and
for the same reasons.
It is obvious that innovation is not "the" predictor of
success. I hope it is just as obvious that making
serious money and getting lots of use are not the
measures of success. Those criteria are much like
demanding a woman have a 22 inch waist, blonde hair,
a 38 inch breast size and be a supermodel to be beautiful.
As a meme, it leads to bulimia and the thin is
beautiful meme can lead to technical anorexia.
History shows us that success that scales large
never depends on any one factor; some set of
factors couple and that reinforcement causes
amplification. This scales up and that leads
to lots of use, and perhaps, serious money.
Yet STimbl hasn't made 'serious money'. Others
have. He has serious honors and he deserves them.
But before any of you out there start measuring
yourselves that way, keep in mind that there
is no XML or HTML without SGML, no HTTP without FTP,
no Microsoft without IBM, no success of any
kind in isolation from the world in which that
success is fielded. It can take many careers and
many smart people to create an 'overnight success'.
Listening is everything and timing is
everything else. Do the right thing and be
satisfied by seeing, if even the smallest and
least important by the world's measures,
your victories. They are not inconsequential
if they reach beyond your front door even a step.
If all you want is money and ubiquity, the drug
market is looking for a few bad men. If you want
the honors that Sir Tim Berners-Lee has, do
something that makes the world better in a big
way... and be born British.
len
From: Bullard, Claude L (Len)
No it didn't. Cheap microprocessors and memory did. When
we didn't have to use a MicroVAX, things got better fast,
but a true history is seldom inspirational or sells books.
STimBL deserves the knighthood. So does James Clark.
Perhaps so did Mick and Paul, but that isn't a historical
profundity as much as a sign of what a knighthood means
to the folks who make those choices.
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