Search and People Power: the story behind a new revolution

These two documentaries from Download: The True Story of The Internet, provided me with new insights about the history of both the "search revolution" and the web 2.0 revolution. It was interesting to learn more about the obstacles encountered by these people and companies along the way. It was also amazing to learn more about how far the Internet has evolved in a fairly short period of time. Journalist John Heilemann did a thorough report in these two documentaries, leaving the viewers with even more of an appreciation for the people behind this revolution.

Search: It was in the Search documentary that you learn more about the power of people in Silicon Valley when it comes to launching Internet-based companies. It was also the beginning of the trend for two college students from a prestigious university to launch a revolutionary company. Stanford University students Jerry Yang (pictured above) and David Filo were just trying to find basketball informationon the Internet to win a fantasy basketball tournament when they realized the need for a search engine.

This started their endeavor with Yahoo! that has led to one of the most successful search engines, which has paved the way for Google and others. The two started a guide in 1994 called "Jerry and David's Guide to the World Wide Web", a guide to provide people with a way to organize their favorite Web sites. The guide became a hit and made them realize they could possibly be successful with launching a search engine site. It was interesting to learn about the steps they took along the way and the perseverance they had in launching the site. Yahoo! was the first site that really changed the way people seek information on the Internet.

The site was joined by Excite and Google shortly after. The Google founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin sought out to be different and encountered many doubters along the way. Even though Yahoo and others figured out a way to make a profit, Google wanted to figure out a more user-friendly method, which they did and have established themselves as the leader of search engines. I never realized how much it took for Google to get to this point. They were faced with much skepticism at first. However, as John Heilemann said in the movie, "Google mania has started to give way to Google phobia". This documentary was fascinating. I look forward to see the continuing evolution of the "search revolution".

Google co-founder Sergey Brin talks about Yahoo and Bing:

People Power:

In this documentary, Heilemann brings the audience into the world of "our media", meaning media shaped by those who use it. This includes Facebook, MySpace, Napster, Digg, and others.

Mark Zuckerburg, the founder of Facebook, has a played a huge role in the web 2.0 revolution discussed in this documentary. He played off of the new idea that people enjoy hearing their own voices, as was discussed in this movie, and that the media is controlled by no one and shaped by everyone.

YouTube,bought by Google in 2006 for $1.65 billion, has also played a huge role in the new media. Their motto is "broadcast Yourself". This documentary made me thinkback to the days when television was the only option, and when you could not watch a television show unless you were at home during the time it was shown live. It is amazing how far the world of technology has come along in just the past decade.

Another interest that has been brought into the realm of the web 2.0 revolution in a big way is music. The mp3 player and Napster paved the way for music being readily available on the Internet. This documentary showed how skeptical people in the music industry were at first about the idea.

The skepticism and journey that all of these companies made was a major theme in both documentaries. It was very inspirational to see how all of these visions have impacted society.