Autosave: 2024-11-04 16:36:34

neuron/942a9988-f5a6-4ae9-be83-000113c8d4f2/Additive_identity.md

@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ tags:
   - theorems
 ---
 
-# The Property of Additive Identity
+# Property of Additive Identity
 
 **Let $a$ represent any member of $\mathbb{W}$ or $\mathbb{Z}$ then:**
 

neuron/942a9988-f5a6-4ae9-be83-000113c8d4f2/Concise_subfield_mapping_JS.md

@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ tags: []
 created: Friday, June 28, 2024
 ---
 
-# Concise mapping of object subfileds in JS
+# Concise mapping of object subfields in JS
 
 ## Scenario
 

neuron/942a9988-f5a6-4ae9-be83-000113c8d4f2/The_History_of_Computing_Swade.md

@@ -56,8 +56,8 @@ arithmetic.
 
 ![Photograph of replica of Leibniz stepped drum machine](static/leibniz-stepped-drum.jpg)
 
-The main contenders were the Pascaline of #Pascal (which only did cumulative
-addition) and the wheel or "stepped drum" calculator of #Leibniz that could do
+The main contenders were the Pascaline of Pascal (which only did cumulative
+addition) and the wheel or "stepped drum" calculator of Leibniz that could do
 all operations (in theory).
 
 Subsequent designs were based on these artefacts. In practice, neither worked
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ with other mechanical calculators. In the US, Burroughs dominated the market.
 
 ## Babbage: mechanized, automated calculation
 
-> I wish to God these calculations had been executed by Steam (#Babbage)
+> I wish to God these calculations had been executed by Steam (Babbage)
 
 With Babbage's machines we see an approach to computation that can only be
 understood against the backdrop of the Industrial Revolution in which they were
@@ -97,23 +97,23 @@ automatically generated.
 
 The DE's single purpose was to calculate and output mathematical tables such as
 the results of polynomial equations. The idea was that you would input the
-answer a bell would ring and the machine would _halt_. This influenced #Turing
+answer a bell would ring and the machine would _halt_. This influenced Turing
 later. It was non-programmable and designed for a specific set of calculations.
 
 ### Analytical Engine
 
-Conceived as a general-purpose computing machine capable of perfoming a wide
+Conceived as a general-purpose computing machine capable of performing a wide
 range of calculations, programmable using punched cards similar to those used
 with Jacquard looms.
 
 It more resembled modern computers in that Babbage used concepts that would
-later translate into the #vonNeumann architecture. There was a "mill" (CPU),
-"store" (memory) and input/output mechanisms. It also had a concept of looping
-and conditional branching.
+later translate into the [von Neumann architecture](CPU_architecture.md) There
+was a "mill" (CPU), "store" (memory) and input/output mechanisms. It also had a
+concept of looping and conditional branching.
 
 ### Lovelace's insight
 
-A central idea of Ada #Lovelace, expressed in her notes on the Analytical Engine
+A central idea of Ada Lovelace, expressed in her notes on the Analytical Engine
 is that **number can represent entities other than quantity**.
 
 If we assign meaning to number, results arrived at by operating on number
@@ -208,8 +208,8 @@ various mechanical parts were prone to wear and needed frequent replacement.
 
 Designed by Howard Aiken and built by IBM (1937-1944). Also known as the
 _Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator_ (ASCC). A general-purpose
-electro-mechanical computer it was most famously used at Los Alamos by
-#vonNeumann to calculate the blast yield of the atomic bomb.
+electro-mechanical computer it was most famously used at Los Alamos by von
+Neumann to calculate the blast yield of the atomic bomb.
 
 ![Harvard Mark One](static/Harvard_Mark_1.jpg)
 
@@ -307,20 +307,20 @@ than binary and had punch card input and output. It was crudely programmable and
 could be set up to work on different problems by rearranging the different
 components using switches and plugboards. But this took roughly two days.
 
-It's design was very influential because it was made public and not classified.
+Its design was very influential because it was made public and not classified.
 
 ### EDVAC (1944-49) John Mauchly/J.P Eckert/ John von Neumann
 
 Built at the Moore School for the BRL as a successor to ENIAC by Mauchly and
 Eckert whilst ENIAC was still operational. It's architecture arose out of
-discussions between #vonNeumann and Mauchly and Eckert and was necessitated by
+discussions between von Neumann and Mauchly and Eckert and was necessitated by
 the need to calculate the behaviour of the fissile materials in the atomic bomb.
 
-It resulted in the famous _First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC_ by #vonNeumann
+It resulted in the famous _First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC_ by von Neumann
 which is seen as the definitive statement of the modern **digital programmable
 general-purpose computer**.
 
-As a result of the paper, #vonNeumann effectively got the credit for the
+As a result of the paper, von Neumann effectively got the credit for the
 invention even though it synthesised ideas from the ENIAC and the contributions
 of others to the EDVAC.
 
@@ -421,7 +421,7 @@ variety of different electronic methods for memory:
 
 #### The Automatic Computing Engine (ACE) (1946) Alan Turing
 
-- Technical design provided by Alan #Turing working at the Mathematics Division
+- Technical design provided by Alan Turing working at the Mathematics Division
   of the National Physical Laboratory. The product of Turing's theoretical work
   in "On Computable Numbers" where he proposes the concept of a
   [Turing_machine](Turing_machines.md) and based on his experience with early
@@ -700,7 +700,7 @@ chips, they advised the company to use a general purpose chip that could handle
 general computing as well as the basic calculator functions. This generic chip -
 the Intel 4004 - was the microprocessor combined with three other ICs
 (comprising 2.3k transistors) that comprised the fundamental building blocks of
-the #vonNeumann architecture.
+the von Neumann architecture.
 
 ![Intel 4004 chip](static/intel-4004.jpg)
 

neuron/942a9988-f5a6-4ae9-be83-000113c8d4f2/Weaving_the_Web_Berners_Lee.md

@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+---
+tags: [literature, socio-political, world-wide-web]
+created: Monday, November 04, 2024
+---
+
+# Weaving the Web (Berners-Lee, 1999)
+
+Tim did not really conceive of the possibility of the centralising and
+totalising effects of social media:
+
+_The Web's universality leads to a thriving richness and diversity. If a company
+claims to give access to the world of information, then presents a filtered
+view, the Web loses its credibility._ (p.143)
+
+_Happily, the Web is so huge that there's no way any one company can dominate
+it. All the human effort people and organisations have put in all over the world
+to create Web sites and home pages is astoundingly large, and most of the effort
+has to do with what's in the Web, not the software used to browse it. The Web's
+content, and thus value, will continue despite any one company's actions._
+(p.144)
+
+Apropos the "alt-right" etc:
+
+_The analogy of a global brain is tempting, because Web and brain both involve
+huge numbers of elements - neurons and Web pages - and a mixture of structure
+and apparent randomness. However, a brain has an intelligence that emerges on
+quite a different level from anything that a neuron could be aware
+of...[W]riters have contemplated an 'emergent property' arising from the mass of
+humanity and computers. But remember that such a phenomenon would have its own
+agenda. We would not as individuals be ware of it, let alone control it, any
+more than the neuron controls the brain._ p.222

neuron/942a9988-f5a6-4ae9-be83-000113c8d4f2/c301a0b3-1d8_Mosaic_Netscape_and_Browser_Wars.md

@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+---
+tags: [world-wide-web, computer-history, Microsoft]
+created: Sunday, November 03, 2024
+---
+
+# c301a0b3-1d8_Mosaic_Netscape_and_Browser_Wars
+
+The Mosaic browser was conceived and produced at the University of Illinois
+during the very early growth of the Web, when TBL was still at CERN.
+
+_Mosaic_:
+
+![Mosaic browser](static/mosaic-browser.jpg)
+
+It became the best of the early browsers (a group that included ViolaWWW and
+Erwise) with the notable advantage of being able to embed graphics alongside
+text (instead of inside a separate window). It also supported multiple
+[application layer](Application_Layer_of_Internet_Protocol.md) protocols - FTP,
+the Network News Transfer Protocol, Gopher - not just HTTP.
+
+At this point there were nascent browsers for different operating systems and
+which browser you used was mostly determined by your OS. Being the product of a
+US university, Mosaic was originally written for Unix's X-Window system but was
+ported to multiple OSs later, a key factor in its success and uptake.
+
+Mosaic's creators formed their own company outside of the university: Netscape.
+The browser they created, Netscape Navigator became the heir to Mosaic, released
+in 1994.
+
+_Netscape Navigator_:
+
+![Netscape Navigator](static/Navigator_Netscape.png)
+
+It was made free of charge for non-commercial use which assured rapid uptake.
+This was done to outrun Microsoft's Internet Explorer (released two months after
+Netscape went public) which they intended to bundle with all new versions of
+Windows 95. Netscape became the de facto standard browser during the early Web,
+including on Windows. It took a few years for IE to overtake it.
+
+_Internet Explorer 1 with licensing info_:
+
+![Internet Explorer](static/internet_explorer.png)
+
+Netscape also birthed JavaScript, which was written rapidly specifically for the
+browser. Prior to this, dynamic client-side functionality was provided by Java
+'applets' which never really took off.
+
+IE in fact shares a genealogy with Mosaic since Microsoft licensed a version of
+the Mosaic code and used it to construct IE.
+
+By the end of the 1990s, Netscape's usage had declined precipitously as IE
+captured the market share.

neuron/942a9988-f5a6-4ae9-be83-000113c8d4f2/ecec56e6_precursors_to_search_engines.md

@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+---
+tags: [world-wide-web, computer-history]
+created: Monday, November 04, 2024
+---
+
+# ecec56e6_precursors_to_search_engines
+
+Before search engines as searchable indices of all content on the web, the
+custom was for ISPs, browsers and websites (e.g. Yahoo!) to provide directories
+of links to other sites. They functioned as sort of global web-portals.
+
+![Yahoo's original homepage](static/yahoo-original-homepage.png)
+
+_The Yahoo! homepage from 1999._
+
+![AltaVista homepage](static/alta-vista.png)
+
+_The AltaVista homepage from 1999. It has a primitive search engine but also
+directories of sites._

neuron/942a9988-f5a6-4ae9-be83-000113c8d4f2/f6564af9_AOL_and_early_internet_enclosure.md

@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+---
+tags: [world-wide-web, computer-history, internet, socio-political]
+created: Monday, November 04, 2024
+---
+
+# f6564af9_AOL_and_early_internet_enclosure
+
+We might view AOL, with it's millions of 'free trial' CD-ROMs, as the first
+attempt by a corporate entity to try and enclose the Internet/Web. To take the
+vase informational expanse and reduce it to a single, filtered and contained
+space controlled by a single company.
+
+![Early AOL interface](static/aol-on-windows.jpg)
+
+_AOL interface from 1993_
+
+This would later be achieved or approximated more effectively by Google (under
+the guise of doing the opposite - people are "empowered" to access the
+information they otherwise would not find, granted a key to the Internet etc.
+When in fact, making everyone go through the same gate enables surveillance and
+the monetisation of the use of a public resource) and then of course by the
+social media companies.
+
+AOL in fact started this even before there was a Web, pioneering the concept of
+a web portal, with their [modem-based](cfbef1c4_web_precursors.md) private-BBS
+business model. This provided access to a circumscribed subset of the Internet
+at a time when accessing information was opaque and confusing to the average
+non-technical user. The advent of the web first threatened and then basically
+obviated this model, when access to information via browsers and HTTP servers
+made the process easier and more democratized. Hence why AOL then tellingly
+pivoted to the browser and search-engine market, the next available mechanism of
+enclosure.
+
+![AOL homepage](static/aol-original.jpg)
+
+_AOL interface from 1999_

neuron/942a9988-f5a6-4ae9-be83-000113c8d4f2/index.md

@@ -13,27 +13,27 @@ computer science.
 
 ![not-by-ai-badge](static/not-by-ai-alternative--light.svg)
  
-**Build ID:** 6ee38802-781e-4c65-8c64-56c9bccc4460
+**Build ID:** 942a9988-f5a6-4ae9-be83-000113c8d4f2
 
-**Published:** Mon 04 Nov 2024 14:26:41
+**Published:** Mon 04 Nov 2024 16:36:33
 
 ### Recent edits 
 
+- [[f6564af9_AOL_and_early_internet_enclosure]] 
+- [[ecec56e6_precursors_to_search_engines]] 
+- [[c301a0b3-1d8_Mosaic_Netscape_and_Browser_Wars]] 
+- [[The_History_of_Computing_Swade]] 
+- [[Weaving_the_Web_Berners_Lee]] 
+- [[Concise_subfield_mapping_JS]] 
+- [[Additive_identity]] 
 - [[MongoDB_connection]] 
 - [[Commutative_Property_of_Addition_and_Multiplication]] 
 - [[Call_stack]] 
 - [[Typing_built_in_React_hooks]] 
 - [[Boot_process]] 
-- [[Binary_encoding_of_text]] 
-- [[Testing_basic_prop_passing_in_React]] 
-- [[Associative_Property_of_Addition_and_Multiplication]] 
-- [[Classes_in_Python]] 
-- [[File_operations_in_Python]] 
-- [[Lists_in_Python]] 
-- [[Dictionaries_in_Python]] 
 
 
-### All notes (481) 
+### All notes (485) 
 
 - [[385af4b4_Baran_distributed_networks]] 
 - [[3f1b9fe5_motivation_Berners_Lee]] 
@@ -488,6 +488,7 @@ computer science.
 - [[Virtual_private_cloud]] 
 - [[Voltage]] 
 - [[Voltage_sources]] 
+- [[Weaving_the_Web_Berners_Lee]] 
 - [[What_are_disks]] 
 - [[What_is_memory]] 
 - [[Whole_numbers]] 
@@ -502,10 +503,13 @@ computer science.
 - [[Writing_to_files_in_Python]] 
 - [[Zero_property_of_multiplication]] 
 - [[Zip_function_in_Python]] 
+- [[c301a0b3-1d8_Mosaic_Netscape_and_Browser_Wars]] 
 - [[c8173d17_TIMPs]] 
 - [[cfbef1c4_web_precursors]] 
 - [[e470bf3d_IMPs_in_the_ARPANET]] 
+- [[ecec56e6_precursors_to_search_engines]] 
 - [[f0f70a3c_ARPANET_motivations]] 
+- [[f6564af9_AOL_and_early_internet_enclosure]] 
 - [[fs]] 
 - [[http_in_Node]] 
 - [[journald]] 

zk/Additive_identity.md

@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ tags:
   - theorems
 ---
 
-# The Property of Additive Identity
+# Property of Additive Identity
 
 **Let $a$ represent any member of $\mathbb{W}$ or $\mathbb{Z}$ then:**
 

zk/Concise_subfield_mapping_JS.md

@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ tags: []
 created: Friday, June 28, 2024
 ---
 
-# Concise mapping of object subfileds in JS
+# Concise mapping of object subfields in JS
 
 ## Scenario
 

zk/The_History_of_Computing_Swade.md

@@ -56,8 +56,8 @@ arithmetic.
 
 ![Photograph of replica of Leibniz stepped drum machine](../img/leibniz-stepped-drum.jpg)
 
-The main contenders were the Pascaline of #Pascal (which only did cumulative
-addition) and the wheel or "stepped drum" calculator of #Leibniz that could do
+The main contenders were the Pascaline of Pascal (which only did cumulative
+addition) and the wheel or "stepped drum" calculator of Leibniz that could do
 all operations (in theory).
 
 Subsequent designs were based on these artefacts. In practice, neither worked
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ with other mechanical calculators. In the US, Burroughs dominated the market.
 
 ## Babbage: mechanized, automated calculation
 
-> I wish to God these calculations had been executed by Steam (#Babbage)
+> I wish to God these calculations had been executed by Steam (Babbage)
 
 With Babbage's machines we see an approach to computation that can only be
 understood against the backdrop of the Industrial Revolution in which they were
@@ -97,23 +97,23 @@ automatically generated.
 
 The DE's single purpose was to calculate and output mathematical tables such as
 the results of polynomial equations. The idea was that you would input the
-answer a bell would ring and the machine would _halt_. This influenced #Turing
+answer a bell would ring and the machine would _halt_. This influenced Turing
 later. It was non-programmable and designed for a specific set of calculations.
 
 ### Analytical Engine
 
-Conceived as a general-purpose computing machine capable of perfoming a wide
+Conceived as a general-purpose computing machine capable of performing a wide
 range of calculations, programmable using punched cards similar to those used
 with Jacquard looms.
 
 It more resembled modern computers in that Babbage used concepts that would
-later translate into the #vonNeumann architecture. There was a "mill" (CPU),
-"store" (memory) and input/output mechanisms. It also had a concept of looping
-and conditional branching.
+later translate into the [von Neumann architecture](CPU_architecture.md) There
+was a "mill" (CPU), "store" (memory) and input/output mechanisms. It also had a
+concept of looping and conditional branching.
 
 ### Lovelace's insight
 
-A central idea of Ada #Lovelace, expressed in her notes on the Analytical Engine
+A central idea of Ada Lovelace, expressed in her notes on the Analytical Engine
 is that **number can represent entities other than quantity**.
 
 If we assign meaning to number, results arrived at by operating on number
@@ -208,8 +208,8 @@ various mechanical parts were prone to wear and needed frequent replacement.
 
 Designed by Howard Aiken and built by IBM (1937-1944). Also known as the
 _Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator_ (ASCC). A general-purpose
-electro-mechanical computer it was most famously used at Los Alamos by
-#vonNeumann to calculate the blast yield of the atomic bomb.
+electro-mechanical computer it was most famously used at Los Alamos by von
+Neumann to calculate the blast yield of the atomic bomb.
 
 ![Harvard Mark One](../img/Harvard_Mark_1.jpg)
 
@@ -307,20 +307,20 @@ than binary and had punch card input and output. It was crudely programmable and
 could be set up to work on different problems by rearranging the different
 components using switches and plugboards. But this took roughly two days.
 
-It's design was very influential because it was made public and not classified.
+Its design was very influential because it was made public and not classified.
 
 ### EDVAC (1944-49) John Mauchly/J.P Eckert/ John von Neumann
 
 Built at the Moore School for the BRL as a successor to ENIAC by Mauchly and
 Eckert whilst ENIAC was still operational. It's architecture arose out of
-discussions between #vonNeumann and Mauchly and Eckert and was necessitated by
+discussions between von Neumann and Mauchly and Eckert and was necessitated by
 the need to calculate the behaviour of the fissile materials in the atomic bomb.
 
-It resulted in the famous _First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC_ by #vonNeumann
+It resulted in the famous _First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC_ by von Neumann
 which is seen as the definitive statement of the modern **digital programmable
 general-purpose computer**.
 
-As a result of the paper, #vonNeumann effectively got the credit for the
+As a result of the paper, von Neumann effectively got the credit for the
 invention even though it synthesised ideas from the ENIAC and the contributions
 of others to the EDVAC.
 
@@ -421,7 +421,7 @@ variety of different electronic methods for memory:
 
 #### The Automatic Computing Engine (ACE) (1946) Alan Turing
 
-- Technical design provided by Alan #Turing working at the Mathematics Division
+- Technical design provided by Alan Turing working at the Mathematics Division
   of the National Physical Laboratory. The product of Turing's theoretical work
   in "On Computable Numbers" where he proposes the concept of a
   [Turing_machine](Turing_machines.md) and based on his experience with early
@@ -700,7 +700,7 @@ chips, they advised the company to use a general purpose chip that could handle
 general computing as well as the basic calculator functions. This generic chip -
 the Intel 4004 - was the microprocessor combined with three other ICs
 (comprising 2.3k transistors) that comprised the fundamental building blocks of
-the #vonNeumann architecture.
+the von Neumann architecture.
 
 ![Intel 4004 chip](../img/intel-4004.jpg)
 

zk/Weaving_the_Web_Berners_Lee.md

@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+---
+tags: [literature, socio-political, world-wide-web]
+created: Monday, November 04, 2024
+---
+
+# Weaving the Web (Berners-Lee, 1999)
+
+Tim did not really conceive of the possibility of the centralising and
+totalising effects of social media:
+
+_The Web's universality leads to a thriving richness and diversity. If a company
+claims to give access to the world of information, then presents a filtered
+view, the Web loses its credibility._ (p.143)
+
+_Happily, the Web is so huge that there's no way any one company can dominate
+it. All the human effort people and organisations have put in all over the world
+to create Web sites and home pages is astoundingly large, and most of the effort
+has to do with what's in the Web, not the software used to browse it. The Web's
+content, and thus value, will continue despite any one company's actions._
+(p.144)
+
+Apropos the "alt-right" etc:
+
+_The analogy of a global brain is tempting, because Web and brain both involve
+huge numbers of elements - neurons and Web pages - and a mixture of structure
+and apparent randomness. However, a brain has an intelligence that emerges on
+quite a different level from anything that a neuron could be aware
+of...[W]riters have contemplated an 'emergent property' arising from the mass of
+humanity and computers. But remember that such a phenomenon would have its own
+agenda. We would not as individuals be ware of it, let alone control it, any
+more than the neuron controls the brain._ p.222

zk/c301a0b3-1d8_Mosaic_Netscape_and_Browser_Wars.md

@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+---
+tags: [world-wide-web, computer-history, Microsoft]
+created: Sunday, November 03, 2024
+---
+
+# c301a0b3-1d8_Mosaic_Netscape_and_Browser_Wars
+
+The Mosaic browser was conceived and produced at the University of Illinois
+during the very early growth of the Web, when TBL was still at CERN.
+
+_Mosaic_:
+
+![Mosaic browser](../img/mosaic-browser.jpg)
+
+It became the best of the early browsers (a group that included ViolaWWW and
+Erwise) with the notable advantage of being able to embed graphics alongside
+text (instead of inside a separate window). It also supported multiple
+[application layer](Application_Layer_of_Internet_Protocol.md) protocols - FTP,
+the Network News Transfer Protocol, Gopher - not just HTTP.
+
+At this point there were nascent browsers for different operating systems and
+which browser you used was mostly determined by your OS. Being the product of a
+US university, Mosaic was originally written for Unix's X-Window system but was
+ported to multiple OSs later, a key factor in its success and uptake.
+
+Mosaic's creators formed their own company outside of the university: Netscape.
+The browser they created, Netscape Navigator became the heir to Mosaic, released
+in 1994.
+
+_Netscape Navigator_:
+
+![Netscape Navigator](../img/Navigator_Netscape.png)
+
+It was made free of charge for non-commercial use which assured rapid uptake.
+This was done to outrun Microsoft's Internet Explorer (released two months after
+Netscape went public) which they intended to bundle with all new versions of
+Windows 95. Netscape became the de facto standard browser during the early Web,
+including on Windows. It took a few years for IE to overtake it.
+
+_Internet Explorer 1 with licensing info_:
+
+![Internet Explorer](../img/internet_explorer.png)
+
+Netscape also birthed JavaScript, which was written rapidly specifically for the
+browser. Prior to this, dynamic client-side functionality was provided by Java
+'applets' which never really took off.
+
+IE in fact shares a genealogy with Mosaic since Microsoft licensed a version of
+the Mosaic code and used it to construct IE.
+
+By the end of the 1990s, Netscape's usage had declined precipitously as IE
+captured the market share.

zk/ecec56e6_precursors_to_search_engines.md

@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+---
+tags: [world-wide-web, computer-history]
+created: Monday, November 04, 2024
+---
+
+# ecec56e6_precursors_to_search_engines
+
+Before search engines as searchable indices of all content on the web, the
+custom was for ISPs, browsers and websites (e.g. Yahoo!) to provide directories
+of links to other sites. They functioned as sort of global web-portals.
+
+![Yahoo's original homepage](../img/yahoo-original-homepage.png)
+
+_The Yahoo! homepage from 1999._
+
+![AltaVista homepage](../img/alta-vista.png)
+
+_The AltaVista homepage from 1999. It has a primitive search engine but also
+directories of sites._

zk/f6564af9_AOL_and_early_internet_enclosure.md

@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+---
+tags: [world-wide-web, computer-history, internet, socio-political]
+created: Monday, November 04, 2024
+---
+
+# f6564af9_AOL_and_early_internet_enclosure
+
+We might view AOL, with it's millions of 'free trial' CD-ROMs, as the first
+attempt by a corporate entity to try and enclose the Internet/Web. To take the
+vase informational expanse and reduce it to a single, filtered and contained
+space controlled by a single company.
+
+![Early AOL interface](../img/aol-on-windows.jpg)
+
+_AOL interface from 1993_
+
+This would later be achieved or approximated more effectively by Google (under
+the guise of doing the opposite - people are "empowered" to access the
+information they otherwise would not find, granted a key to the Internet etc.
+When in fact, making everyone go through the same gate enables surveillance and
+the monetisation of the use of a public resource) and then of course by the
+social media companies.
+
+AOL in fact started this even before there was a Web, pioneering the concept of
+a web portal, with their [modem-based](cfbef1c4_web_precursors.md) private-BBS
+business model. This provided access to a circumscribed subset of the Internet
+at a time when accessing information was opaque and confusing to the average
+non-technical user. The advent of the web first threatened and then basically
+obviated this model, when access to information via browsers and HTTP servers
+made the process easier and more democratized. Hence why AOL then tellingly
+pivoted to the browser and search-engine market, the next available mechanism of
+enclosure.
+
+![AOL homepage](../img/aol-original.jpg)
+
+_AOL interface from 1999_