Is the Idea Superior to Its Implementation?
15/11/2018
Sorting through numerunique’s archives brought to light a document that invites reflection. It’s nothing less than the reference manual for the first web server in history!
It dates back to May 1994, making it just over 24 years old. At the time, it was simply a working document at the cutting edge of technology. Today, on the timescale of computing, it’s more akin to a prehistoric fossil than a reference manual. It has been digitized and shared here: httpd1994.
One detail stands out: it was written by Ari Luotonen and Tim Berners-Lee.
A quick internet search reveals that Ari, then a student at CERN, was the one who implemented this crucial element of Tim’s idea, which is universally (and rightly) credited with the invention of the World Wide Web.
Ari, like most of those who contributed to realizing Tim’s idea, has completely faded from history. For history, it’s clearly the idea that takes precedence over its implementation.
Yet, having an idea is very easy, but implementing it is much harder! An idea "in the air" is just nothing. It’s its implementation that gives it all its value.
At numerunique, there are plenty of ideas, and we know from experience the difficulties encountered in bringing them to life. But here, it doesn’t matter whether the inventor or the implementers are remembered: it’s the same person.