the.world.is.flat-第13部分

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95　would　soon　become　the　operating　system　used　by　most　people　worldwide；　and　unlike　
previous　versions　of　Windows；　it　was　equipped　with　built…in　Internet　support；　so　that　
not　just　browsers　but　all　PC　applications　could　〃know　about　the　Internet〃　and　interact　
with　it。　
Looking　back；　what　enabled　Netscape　to　take　off　was　the　existence；　from　the　earlier　
phase；　of　millions　of　PCs；　many　already　equipped　with　modems。　Those　are　the　shoulders　
Netscape　stood　on。　What　Netscape　did　was　bring　a　new　killer　app…the　browser…to　this　
installed　base　ofPCs；　making　the　computer　andits　connectivity　inherently　more　useful　
for　millions　of　people。　This　in　turn　set　off　an　explosion　in　demand　for　all　things　
digital　and　sparked　the　Internet　boom；　because　every　investor　looked　at　the　Internet　
and　concluded　that　if　everything　was　going　to　be　digitized…data；　inventories；　
commerce；　books；　music；　photos；　and　entertainment…and　transported　and　sold　on　the　
Internet；　then　the　demand　for　Internet…based　products　and　services　would　be　infinite。　
This　led　to　the　dot…com　stock　bubble　and　a　massive　overinvestment　in　the　fiber…optic　
cable　needed　to　carry　all　the　new　digital　information。　This　development；　in　turn；　
wired　the　whole　world　together；　and；　without　anyone　really　planning　it；　made　Bangalore　
a　suburb　of　Boston。　
Let's　look　at　each　one　of　these　developments。　
When　I　sat　down　with　Jim　Barksdale；　the　former　Netscape　CEO；　to　interview　him　for　
this　book；　I　explained　to　him　that　one　of　the　early　chapters　was　about　the　ten　
innovations；　events；　and　trends　that　had　flattened　the　world。　The　first　event；　I　told　
him；　was　11/9；　and　I　explained　the　significance　of　that　date。　Then　I　said；　〃Let　me　
see　if　you　can　guess　the　significance　of　the　second　date；　8/9。〃　That　was　all　I　told　
him：　8/9。　It　took　Barksdale　only　a　second　to　ponder　that　before　shooting　back　with　
the　right　answer：　〃The　day　Netscape　went　public！〃　
58　
Few　would　argue　that　Barksdale　is　one　of　the　great　American　entrepreneurs。　He　helped　
Federal　Express　develop　its　package　tracking　and　tracing　system；　then　moved　over　to　
McCaw　Cellular；　the　mobile　phone　company；　built　that　up；　and　oversaw　its　merger　with　
AT&T　in　1994。　Just　before　the　sale　closed；　he　was　approached　by　a　headhunter　to　become　
the　CEO　of　a　new　company　called　Mosaic　Communications；　forged　by　two　now…legendary　
innovators…Jim　Clark　and　Marc　Andreessen。　In　mid…1994；　Clark；　the　founder　of　Silicon　
Graphics；　had　joined　forces　with　Andreessen　to　found　Mosaic；　which　would　quickly　be　
renamed　Netscape　Communications。　Andreessen；　a　brilliant　young　computer　scientist；　
had　just　spearheaded　a　small　software　project　at　the　National　Center　for　
Supercomputing　Applications　（NC　SA）；　based　at　the　University　of　Illinois；　that　


developed　the　first　really　effective　Web　browser；　also　called　Mosaic。　Clark　and　
Andreessen　quickly　understood　the　huge　potential　for　Web…browsing　software　and　
decided　to　partner　up　to　commercialize　it。　As　Netscape　began　to　grow；　they　reached　
out　to　Barksdale　for　guidance　and　insight　into　how　best　to　go　public。　
Today　we　take　this　browser　technology　for　granted；　but　it　was　actually　one　of　the　
most　important　inventions　in　modern　history。　When　Andreessen　was　back　at　the　
University　of　Illinois　NCSA　lab；　he　found　that　he　had　PCs；　workstations；　and　the　basic　
network　connectivity　to　move　files　around　the　Internet；　but　it　was　still　not　very　
exciting…because　there　was　nothing　to　browse　with；　no　user　interface　to　pull　up　and　
display　the　contents　of　other　people's　Web　sites。　So　Andreessen　and　his　team　developed　
the　Mosaic　browser；　making　Web　sites　viewable　for　any　idiot；　scientist；　student；　or　
grandma。　Marc　Andreessen　did　not　invent　the　Internet；　but　he　did　as　much　as　any　single　
person　to　bring　it　alive　and　popularize　it。　
〃The　Mosaic　browser　started　out　in　1993　with　twelve　users；　and　I　knew　all　twelve；〃　
said　Andreessen。　There　were　only　about　fifty　Web　sites　at　the　time　and　they　were　mostly　
just　single　Web　pages。　〃Mosaic；〃　he　explained；　〃was　funded　by　the　National　Science　
Foundation。　The　money　wasn't　actually　allocated　to　build　Mosaic。　Our　specific　group　
was　to　build　software　that　would　enable　scientists　to　use　supercomputers　that　were　
in　remote　locations；　and　to　connect　to　them　by　the　NSF　network。　So　we　built　＇the　first　
browsers　as＇　software　tools　to　enable　researchers　to　

'browse'　each　other's　research。　I　looked　at　it　as　a　positive　feedback　loop：　The　more　
people　had　the　browser；　the　more　people　would　want　to　be　interconnected；　and　the　more　
incentive　there　would　be　to　create　content　and　applications　and　tools。　Once　that　kind　
of　thing　gets　started；　it　just　takes　off　and　virtually　nothing　can　stop　it。　When　you　
are　developing　it；　you　are　not　sure　anyone　is　going　to　use　it；　but　once　it　started　
we　realized　that　if　anyone　is　going　to　use　it　everyone　is　going　to　use　it；　and　the　
only　question　then　was　how　fast　it　would　spread　and　what　would　be　the　barriers　along　
the　way。〃　
Indeed；　everyone　who　tried　the　browser；　including　Barksdale；　had　the　same　initial　
reaction：　Wow！　〃Every　summer；　Fortune　magazine　had　an　article　about　the　twenty…five　
coolest　companies　around；〃　Barksdale　recalled。　〃That　year　＇1994＇　Mosaic　was　one　of　
them。　I　not　only　had　read　about　Clark　and　Andreessen　but　had　turned　to　my　wife　and　
said；　'Honey；　this　a　great　idea。'　And　then　just　a　few　weeks　later　I　get　this　call　
from　the　headhunter。　So　I　went　down　and　spoke　to　Doerr　and　Jim　Clark；　and　I　began　
using　the　beta　version　of　the　Mosaic　browser。　I　became　more　and　more　intrigued　the　
more　I　used　it。〃　Since　the　late　1980s；　people　had　been　putting　up　databases　with　
Internet　access。　Barksdale　said　that　after　speaking　to　Doerr　and　Clark；　he　went　home；　
gathered　his　three　children　around　his　computer；　and　asked　them　each　to　suggest　a　
topic　he　could　browse　the　Internet　for…and　wowed　them　by　coming　up　with　something　
for　each　of　them。　〃That　convinced　me；〃　said　Barksdale。　〃So　I　called　back　the　headhunter　
and　said；　Tm　your　man。'〃　
Netscape's　first　commercial　browser…which　could　work　onan　IBM　PC；　an　Apple　Macintosh；　
or　a　Unix　computer…was　released　in　December　1994；　and　within　a　year　it　completely　


dominated　the　market。　You　could　download　Netscape　for　free　if　you　were　in　education　
or　a　nonprofit。　If　you　were　an　individual；　you　could　evaluate　the　software　for　free　
to　your　heart's　content　and　buy　it　on　disk　if　you　wanted　it。　If　you　were　a　company；　
you　could　evaluate　the　software　for　ninety　days。　〃The　underlying　rationale；〃　said　
Andreessen；　〃was：　If　you　can　afford　to　pay　for　it；　please　do　so。　If　not；　use　it　anyway。〃　
Why？　Because　all　the　free　usage　stimulated　a　massive　growth　in　the　network；　which　
was　valuable　to　all　the　paying　customers。　It　worked。　
60　
We　put　up　the　Netscape　browser；　said　barksdale；　and　people　were　downloading　it　for　
three…month　trials。　I've　never　seen　volume　like　this。　For　big　businesses　and　
government　it　was　allowing　them　to　connect　and　unlock　all　their　information；　and　the　
point…and…click　system　that　Marc　Andreessen　invented　allowed　mere　mortals　to　use　it；　
not　just　scientists。　And　that　made　it　a　true　revolution。　And　we　said；　'This　thing　
will　just　grow　and　grow　and　grow。'〃　
Nothing　did　stop　it；　and　that　is　why　Netscape　played　another　hugely　important　
flattening　role：　It　helped　make　the　Internet　truly　interoperable。　You　will　recall　
that　in　the　Berlin　Wall…PC…Windows　phase；　individuals　who　had　e…mail　and　companies　
that　had　internal　e…mail　could　not　connect　very　far。　The　first　Cisco　Internet　router；　
in　fact；　was　built　by　a　husband　and　wife　at　Stanford　who　wanted　to　exchange　e…mail；　
one　was　working　off　a　mainframe　and　the　other　on　a　PC；　and　they　couldn't　connect。　
〃The　corporate　networks　at　the　time　were　proprietary　and　disconnected　from　each　
other；〃　said　Andreessen。　〃Each　one　had　its　own　formats；　data　protocols；　and　different　
ways　of　doing　content。　So　there　were　all　these　islands　of　information　out　there　that　
were　disconnected。　And　as　the　Internet　emerged　as　a　public；　commercial　venture；　there　
was　a　real　danger　that　it　would　emerge　in　the　same　disconnected　way。〃　
Joe　in　the　accounting　department　would　get　on　his　office　PC　and　try　to　get　the　latest　
sales　numbers　for　1995；　but　he　couldn't　do　that　because　the　sales　department　was　on　
a　different　system　from　the　one　accounting　was　using。　It　was　as　if　one　was　speaking　
German　and　the　other　French。　And　then　Joe　would　say；　〃Get　me　the　latest　shipment　
information　from　Goodyear　on　what　tires　they　have　sent　us；〃　and　he　would　find　that　
Goodyear　was　using　a　different　system　altogether；　and　the　dealer　in　Topeka　was　running　
yet　another　system。　Then　Joe　would　go　home　and　find　his　seventh…grader　on　the　World　
Wide　Web　researching　a　term　paper；　using　open　protocols；　and　looking　at　the　holdings　
of　some　art　museum　in　France。　And　Joe　would　say；　〃This　is　crazy。　There　has　to　be　one　
totally　interconnected　network。〃　
61　
In　the　years　before　the　Internet　became　commercial；　explained　Andreessen；　scientists　
developed　a　series　of　〃open　protocols〃　meant　to　make　everyone's　e…mail　system　or　
university　computer　network　connect　seamlessly　with　everyone　else's…to　ensure　that　
no　one　had　some　special　advantage。　These　mathematical…based　protocols；　which　enable　
digital　devices　to　talk　to　each　other；　were　like　magical　pipes　that；　once　you　adopted　
them　for　your　network；　made　you　compatible　with　everyone　else；　no　matter　what　kind　
of　computer　they　were　running。　These　protocols　were　（and　still　are）　known　by　their　
alphabet　soup　names：　mainly　FTP；　HTTP；　SSL；　SMTP；　POP；　and　TCP/IP。　Together；　they　


form　a　system　for　transporting　data　around　the　Internet　in　a　relatively　secure　manner；　
no　matter　what　network　your　company　or　household　has　or　what　computer　or　cell　phone　
or　handheld　device　you　are　using。　Each　protocol　had　a　different　function：　TCP/IP　was　
the　basic　plumbing　of　the　Internet；　or　the　basic　railroad　tracks；　on　which　everything　
else　above　it　was　built　and　moved　around。　FTP　moved　files；　SMTP　and　POP　moved　e…mail　
messages；　which　became　standardized；　so　that　they　could　be　written　and　read　on　
different　e…mail　systems。　HTML　was　a　language　that　allowed　even　ordinary　people　to　
aut