Technology
Internet is being auctioned by Brit inventor Tim Berners-Lee as an NFT
THE brainbox inventor of the internet is flogging the blueprint for his world-altering creation.
Tim Berners-Lee is auctioning the original source code for the World Wide Web at Sotheby’s as part of an NFT, with bids starting at just $1,000.
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Tim Berners-Lee is auctioning the original source code for the World Wide Web[/caption]
The digitally signed non-fungible token (NFT), a one-of-a-kind digital asset which records ownership, also includes a letter written by Berners-Lee.
The winning bid will also receive an animated visualisation and a digital poster of the full code from the original files, Sotheby’s said Tuesday.
Berners-Lee, a London-born computer scientist, invented the World Wide Web in 1989.
The project revolutionised the sharing and creation of information in what is seen as one of the most significant inventions since the printing press appeared in Europe in 15th Century Germany.
The NeXT computer used by Sir Tim Berners-Lee to design the World Wide Web on display at the Science Museum in London[/caption]
NFTs have exploded in popularity in recent months, including at auction.
A digital-only artwork by American artist Mike Winkelmann, known as Beeple, sold for nearly $70 million at Christie’s in March.
“Why an NFT? Well, it’s a natural thing to do … when you’re a computer scientist and when you write code and have been for many years,” Berners-Lee said in a statement.
“It feels right to digitally sign my autograph on a completely digital artefact.”
The files contain 9,555 lines of code including implementations of the three languages and protocols invented by Berners-Lee.
What is an NFT?
Here’s a simple guide…
- NFTs are a hot new tradable item taking the internet by storm
- The letters NFT stand for “non-fungible token”
- If something is “fungible”, it can be traded for an identical counterpart
- For instance, Bitcoin is technically fungible – you can swap one for another, and have the same thing
- Physical cash is also fungible – you could trade one £10 note for another
- An NFT is a totally unique digital token with no copies
- Like Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, NFTs work using a blockchain
- A blockchain is a public ledger of transactions recorded across the internet – and is totally unalterable
- The NFTs on the blockchain can be traded like Bitcoin, but they’re unique by design
- This gives them a special value, because each NFT is individual and unique
- You can turn almost any kind of data into an NFT
- People are selling digital artworks, songs and even tweets in NFT form
- More elaborate NFT sales include virtual trainers/sneakers and even a virtual house
- Importantly, NFTs are not physical – so if you buy an NFT object, you’re just owning a part of the blockchain and NOT a physical item
Those are HTML (Hypertext Markup Language), HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol), and URIs (Uniform Resource Identifiers).
Also included are original HTML documents that instructed early web users on how to use the application.
Bids for the NFT, a way of asserting ownership of a digital asset, start at $1,000 in a standalone online auction titled “This Changed Everything” running from June 23-30.
While working at Europe’s physics research centre CERN in 1989, Berners-Lee laid out his vision for what he initially called “Mesh”.
His boss at the time wrote “vague but exciting” on the cover of Berners-Lee’s 1989 paper “Information Management: A Proposal”.
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Berners-Lee in 1990 was building an application he called “WorldWideWeb”.
It was originally developed in Objective C programming language on a NeXT computer, founded by Apple founder Steve Jobs after his ouster from Apple.
“Sir Tim’s invention created a new world, democratizing the sharing of information, creating new ways of thinking and interacting, and staying connected to one another,” said Cassandra Hatton, global head of science and popular culture at Sotheby’s.
“Over the past several centuries humankind has seen a succession of paradigm shifts that have brought us forward into the modern era … but none has had the seismic impact on our daily lives as the creation of the World Wide Web.”
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In other news, the classic “Charlie Bit My Finger” home video is being yanked from YouTube after the young stars of the viral hit flogged it for £500,000.
YouTube has added a new type of video called a “Clip”.
Here’s how to create a channel on YouTube.
And check out the recently-added YouTube feature Chapters.
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