the.world.is.flat-第15节

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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。　
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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。〃　
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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　
author　Web　pages　that　anyone　with　a　Web　browser　could　display。　But　it　was　the　
introduction　of　HTTP　to　move　HTML　documents　around　that　gave　birth　to　the　World　Wide　
Web　as　we　know　it。　Finally；　as　people　began　to　use　these　Web　pages　for　electronic　
commerce；　SSL　was　created　to　provide　security　for　Web…based　transactions。　
As　browsing　and　the　Internet　in　general　grew；　Netscape　wanted　to　make　sure　that　
Microsoft；　with　its　huge　market　dominance；　would　not　be　able　to　shift　these　Web　
protocols　from　open　to　proprietary　standards　that　only　Microsoft's　servers　would　be　
able　to　handle。　〃Netscape　helped　to　guarantee　that　these　open　protocols　would　not　
be　proprietary　by　commercializing　them　for　the　public；〃　said　Andreessen。　〃Netscape　
came　along　not　only　with　the　browser　but　with　a　family　of　software　products　that　
implemented　all　these　open　standards　so　that　the　scientists　could　communicate　with　
each　other　no　matter　what　system　they　were　on…a　Cray　supercomputer；　a　Macintosh；　or　
a　PC。　Netscape　was　able　to　provide　a　real　reason　for　everyone　to　say；　'I　want　to　be　
on　open　standards　for　everything　I　do　and　for　

all　the　systems　I　work　on。'　Once　we　created　a　way　to　browse　the　Internet；　people　wanted　
a　universal　way　to　access　what　was　out　there。　So　anyone　who　wanted　to　work　on　open　
standards　went　to　Netscape；　where　we　supported　them；　or　they　went　to　the　open…source　
world　and　got　the　same　standards　for　free　but　unsupported；　or　they　went　to　their　
private　vendors　and　said；　'I　am　not　going　to　buy　your　proprietary　stuff　anymore　。。。　
I　am　not　going　to　sign　up　to　your　walled　garden　anymore。　I　am　only　going　to　stay　with　
you　if　you　interconnect　to　the　Internet　with　these　open　protocols。'〃　
Netscape　began　pushing　these　open　standards　through　the　sale　of　its　browsers；　and　
the　public　responded　enthusiastically。　Sun　started　to　do　the　same　with　its　servers；　
and　Microsoft　started　to　do　the　same　with　Windows　95；　considering　browsing　so　critical　
that　it　famously　built　its　own　browser　directly　into　Windows　with　the　addition　of　
Internet　Explorer。　Each　realized　that　the　public；　which　suddenly　could　not　get　enough　
of　e…mail　and　browsing；　wanted　the　Internet　companies　to　work　together　and　create　
one　interoperable　network。　They　wanted　companies　to　compete　with　each　other　over　
different　applications；　that　is；　over　what　consumers　could　do　once　they　were　on　the　
Internet…not　over　how　they　got　on　the　Internet　in　the　first　place。　As　a　result；　after　
quite　a　few　〃format　wars〃　among　the　big　companies；　by　the　late　1990s　the　Internet　
computing　platform　became　seamlessly　integrated。　Soon　anyone　was　able　to　connect　with　
anyone　else　anywhere　on　any　machine。　It　turned　out　that　the　value　of　compatibility　
was　much　higher　for　everyone　than　the　value　of　trying　to　maintain　your　own　little　
walled　network。　This　integration　was　a　huge　flattener；　because　it　enabled　so　many　
more　people　to　get　connected　with　so　many　more　other　people。　


There　was　no　shortage　of　skeptics　at　the　time；　who　said　that　none　of　this　would　work　
because　it　was　all　too　complicated；　recalled　Andreessen。　'Tou　had　to　go　out　and　get　
a　PC　and　a　dial…up　modem。　The　skeptics　all　said；　'It　takes　people　a　long　time　to　change　
their　habits　and　learn　a　new　technology。'　＇But＇　people　did　it　very　quickly；　and　ten　
years　later　there　were　eight　hundred　million　people　on　the　Internet。〃　The　reason？　
〃People　will　change　their　habits　quickly　when　they　have　a　strong　reason　to　do　so；　
and　people　have　an　innate　urge　to　connect　with　other　people；〃　
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said　Andreessen。　〃And　when　you　give　people　a　new　way　to　connect　with　other　people；　
they　will　punch　through　any　technical　barrier；　they　will　learn　new　languages…people　
are　wired　to　want　to　connect　with　other　people　and　they　find　it　objectionable　not　
to　be　able　to。　That　is　what　Netscape　unlocked。〃　As　Joel　Cawley；　IBM's　vice　president　
of　corporate　strategy；　put　it；　〃Netscape　created　a　standard　around　how　data　would　
be　transported　and　rendered　on　the　screen　that　was　so　simple　and　compelling　that　anyone　
and　everyone　could　innovate　on　top　of　it。　It　quickly　scaled　around　the　world　and　to　
everyone　from　kids　to　corporations。〃　
In　the　summer　of　1995；　Barksdale　and　his　Netscape　colleagues　went　on　an　old…fashioned　
road　show　with　their　investment　bankers　from　Morgan　Stanley　to　try　to　entice　investors　
around　the　country　to　buy　Netscape　stock　once　it　went　public。　〃When　we　went　out　on　
the　road；〃　said　Barksdale；　〃Morgan　Stanley　said　the　stock　could　sell　for　as　high　as　
14。　But　after　the　road　show　got　going；　they　were　getting　such　demand　for　the　stock；　
they　decidedto　double　the　openingprice　to　28。　The　last　afternoon　before　the　offering；　
we　were　all　in　Maryland。　It　was　our　last　stop。　We　had　this　caravan　of　black　limousines。　
We　looked　like　some　kind　of　Mafia　group。　We　needed　to　be　in　touch　with　Morgan　Stanley　
＇headquarters＇；　but　we　were　somewhere　where　our　cell　phones　didn't　work。　So　we　pulled　
into　these　two　filling　stations　across　from　each　other；　all　th