Earlier today, Satbir Bedi, Scholastic's Chief Technology Officer, sent the following note to Scholastic Technology Services staff. We liked it so much, we wanted to share it with you, too. Happy birthday to the web!
The web now touches so much of how we live that it is hard to believe that it was conceived of only 25 years ago.
On March 12, 1989, Tim Berners-Lee wrote the first paper that described World Wide Web. With the help of a partner, he completed a more thorough proposal in November 1990. By Christmas of 1990, he had working versions of the core components: a web server, a web browser, and web pages. (Source)
With the development of graphical web browsers a few years later, the Web started to grow with incredible speed. By 1995, the World Wide Web included early versions of many now familiar things: web comics, search engines, music sharing, webcams, classified ads, banking, and even spam. (Source)
Since then, the growth of the Web has rapidly transformed the culture and economy of the world. People from all over the world can communicate with one another instantaneously, from any device and any location, and create communities of common interests without regard to geography. Fortunes have been made and lost. New companies, products, and business models have been born, and existing companies and models have reshaped themselves to adapt to consumer expectations driven by the possibilities of the Web.
Scholastic is firmly embracing these changes. We have been helping children learn to read for over 90 years and we intend to continue to do so for the next 90 and beyond. The current generation of readers has grown up in a world in which the Web has always existed and in which almost any information is available at the press of a button. Scholastic is creating its newest generations of products and materials to speak to the interests of these children.
Whether it’s via paper, tablet, or e-reader, we will always support a Child’s Right to Read. We are looking forward to helping to shape how the next 25 years of the World Wide Web will inspire children to Read Every Day and Lead a Better Life.
