Internet Boom Town : a study of scale

 The internet started as a boom town.

The first exploration of the territory was done by a government committee of scientists, mostly from the United States, but a few from the UK and France also contributed to the mapping. Once they knew it was there, and that there were no known previous inhabitants, a few different architects proposed plans on how to build it, notably JCR Licklider, Paul Baran, and Donald Davies.

The government used their ideas and many others who worked tirelessly to build infrastructure in this never before known land. The first priority was communication; the postal service is always first. Once the concept of a town here proved itself, the private investors came.

The first private corporations came into the picture in more than just a supporting role in 1989. They continued the work to build up the infrastructure. Meanwhile, CERN with Tim Berners-Lee connected the last puzzle to build a library.

People were quick to move in. Unlike most boom towns, over time the cost to join decreased, so more people could move in. Today, the town is crowded and has joyful corners and dark webs. There is an active historical (or way back) society, many social networks, and the library and post office are still very strong. It shows no signs of turning to a ghost town, as is the fate for many of these towns; at least it isn’t showing that today. It is our worldwide boom town, and the lawless inherent in those places is also apparent. It also brings to light global disparities in access that we couldn’t see as well before. We are in an age of Mr. Moneybags monopoly. Still, it’s good to use the library. The post office is pretty great too.