Project Gutenberg keeps its administrative and financial structure to the bare minimum. Its motto fits into three words: "Less is more." The minimal rules give much space to volunteers and to new ideas. The goal is to ensure its independence from loans and other funding and from ephemeral cultural priorities, to avoid pressure from politicians and others. The aim is also to ensure respect for the volunteers, who can be confident their work will be used not just for a few years but for generations. Volunteers can network through mailing lists, weekly or monthly newsletters, discussion lists, forums, wikis and blogs.
In July 2011, for its 40th anniversary, Project Gutenberg offered 36,000 ebooks being downloaded by the tens of thousands every day, with websites in the United States, in Australia, in Europe, and in Canada, and 40 mirror websites worldwide.
40 years after the beginning of Project Gutenberg, Michael Hart describes himself as a workaholic who has devoted his entire life to his project. He considers himself a pragmatic and farsighted altruist. For years he was regarded as a nut but now he is respected.
Michael has often stated in his writings that, after Gutenberg allowing anyone to have its own print books for a small cost, Project Gutenberg would allow anyone to have a library at no cost stored in a pocket device. The collection of Project Gutenberg has the size of a local public library, but this time available on the web to be downloaded for free. The project’s goal is to change the world through freely available ebooks that can be used and copied endlessly, and reading and culture for everyone at minimal cost.
1974 > THE INTERNET “TOOK OFF”
[Summary] The internet “took off” in 1974 with the creation of TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol) by Vinton Cerf and Bob Kahn, fifteen years before the invention of the web. The internet expanded as a network linking U.S. governmental agencies, universities and research centers, before spreading worldwide in 1983. The internet got its first boost in 1990 with the invention of the web by Tim Berners-Lee, and its second boost in 1993 with the release of Mosaic, the first browser for the general public. The Internet Society (ISOC) was founded in 1992 by Vinton Cerf to promote the development of the internet as a medium that was becoming part of our lives. There were 100 million internet users in December 1997, with one million new users per month, and 300 million users in December 2000.
***
The internet “took off” in 1974 with the creation of TCP/IP
(Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol) by Vinton Cerf and
Bob Kahn, fifteen years before the invention of the web.
# A new medium
The internet expanded as a network linking U.S. governmental agencies, universities and research centers, before spreading worldwide in 1983.