the.world.is.flat-第14节

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Soviet　Union　through　an　arms　race；　others　thought　IBM；　Steve　Jobs；　and　Bill　Gates　
brought　down　the　wall　by　empowering　individuals　to　download　the　future。　But　a　world　
away；　in　Muslim　lands；　many　thought　bin　Laden　and　his　comrades　brought　down　the　Soviet　
Empire　and　the　wall　with　religious　zeal；　and　millions　of　them　were　inspired　to　upload　
the　past。　
In　short；　while　we　were　celebrating　11/9；　the　seeds　of　another　memorable　
date…9/11…were　being　sown。　But　more　about　that　later　in　the　book。　For　now；　let　the　
flattening　continue。　

Flattener　#2　
8/9/95　When　Netscape　Went　Public　
By　the　mid…1990s；　the　PC…Windows　network　revolution　had　reached　its　limits。　If　the　
world　was　going　to　become　really　interconnected；　and　really　start　to　flatten　out；　
the　revolution　needed　to　go　to　the　next　phase。　And　the　next　phase；　notes　Microsoft's　
Mundie；　〃was　to　go　from　a　PC…based　computing　platform　to　an　Internet…based　platform。〃　
The　killer　applications　that　drove　this　new　phase　were　e…mail　and　Internet　browsing。　
E…mail　was　being　driven　by　the　rapidly　expanding　consumer　portals　like　AOL；　CompuServe；　
and　eventually　MSN。But　it　was　the　new　killer　app；　the　Webbrowser…which　could　retrieve　
documents　or　Web　pages　stored　on　Internet　Web　sites　and　display　them　on　any　computer　
screen…that　really　captured　the　imagination。　The　actual　concept　of　the　World　Wide　
Web…a　system　for　creating；　organizing；　and　linking　documents　so　they　could　be　easily　
browsed…was　created　by　British　computer　scientist　TimBerners…Lee。　He　put　up　the　first　
Web　site　in　1991；　in　an　effort　to　foster　a　computer　network　that　would　enable　
scientists　to　easily　share　their　research。　Other　scientists　and　academics　had　created　
a　number　of　browsers　to　surf　this　early　Web；　but　the　first　mainstream　browser…and　
the　whole　culture　of　Web　browsing　for　the　general　public…was　created　by　a　tiny　start…up　
company　in　Mountain　View；　California；　called　Netscape。　Netscape　went　public　on　August　
9；　1995；　and　the　world　has　not　been　the　same　since。　
As　John　Doerr；　the　legendary　venture　capitalist　whose　firm　Kleiner　Perkins　Caulfield　
&　Byers　had　backed　Netscape；　put　it；　〃The　Netscape　IPO　was　a　clarion　call　to　the　world　
to　wake　up　to　the　Internet。　Until　then；　it　had　been　the　province　of　the　early　adopters　
and　geeks。〃　
This　Netscape…triggered　phase　drove　the　flattening　process　in　several　key　ways：　It　
gave　us　the　first　broadly　popular　commercial　browser　to　surf　the　Internet。　The　
Netscape　browser　not　only　brought　the　Internet　alive　but　also　made　the　Internet　


accessible　to　everyone　from　five…year…olds　to　eighty…five…year…olds。　The　more　alive　
the　Internet　became；　the　more　consumers　wanted　to　do　different　things　on　the　Web；　
so　the　more　they　de57　
manded　computers；　software；　and　telecommunications　networks　that　could　easily　
digitize　words；　music；　data；　and　photos　and　transport　them　on　the　Internet　to　anyone　
else's　computer。　This　demand　was　satisfied　by　another　catalytic　event：　the　rollout　
of　Windows　95；　which　shipped　the　week　after　Netscape　took　its　stock　public。　Windows　
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　Decem