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Tim Berners-Lee Is Sorry About the Slashes

Stony Stevenson writes "A light has been shone on one of the great mysteries of the internet. What is the point of the two forward slashes that sit directly in front of the 'www' in every internet website address? The answer, according to Tim Berners-Lee, who had an important role in the creation of the web, is that there isn't one. Berners-Lee revisited that design decision during a recent talk with Paul Mohr of the NY Times when Mohr asked if he would do any differently, given the chance. 'Look at all the paper and trees, he said, that could have been saved if people had not had to write or type out those slashes on paper over the years — not to mention the human labor and time spent typing those two keystrokes countless millions of times in browser address boxes.'"

11 of 620 comments (clear)

  1. yes by nomadic · · Score: 4, Funny

    not to mention the human labor and time spent typing those two keystrokes countless millions of times in browser address boxes.'

    Has anyone had to do that since NINETEEN NINETY FOUR? Is Berners-Lee still using Mosaic or something?

  2. to think .. by Errtu76 · · Score: 5, Funny

    .. we could've had colondot instead of slashdot! I like it!

  3. Just think if he had left them out ... by Norsefire · · Score: 3, Funny

    We'd all be reading colondot right now.

  4. Slashdot by cffrost · · Score: 5, Funny

    So we could be called "Colondotters?" No thanks.

    --
    Thank you, Edward Snowden.

    "Arguments from authority are worthless." —Carl Sagan
    1. Re:Slashdot by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 5, Funny

      Better than colonslashers I suppose...

      --
      "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
  5. ... it seemed like a good idea at the time... by ledow · · Score: 4, Funny

    There you go, it seemed like a good idea at the time. he said.

    If the human race is ever brought before a court to account for itself, that's going to be its entire defence. Nuclear power, the Internet, ID cards, ... that excuse works for everything!

  6. Re:pronouncing www is a lot more of a problem by red_kenotic · · Score: 5, Funny

    Every time I set-up a sub-domain for work I always have to tell my boss "http://subdomain." out loud first, in the hope that he'll not prefix "www".

    Sometimes he still just does both, then asks me why it isn't working. This results in a lengthy conversation where we're both saying "http colon slash slash" and "www" to each other. Makes me want to stab him in the face.

  7. Re:Funny vs. Insightful by commodore64_love · · Score: 3, Funny

    >>>Without the slashes, Slashdot would have been called something else.

    Colondot?

    --
    "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
  8. Re:Stupid story by bendodge · · Score: 5, Funny

    Store a stupid bookmark. Then you only have to type https://blah.blah.blah/ one time.

    You should be more responsible than to link to https://blah.blah.blah/. It's got an invalid cert!

    --
    The government can't save you.
  9. Re:Theres one technical point by tsm_sf · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'd still go to http://192.168.1.2:81/ for testing

    Dude, throw up a NSFW on links like that. You almost got me fired.

    --
    Literalism isn't a form of humor, it's you being irritating.
  10. Re:yeah and by lewiscr · · Score: 3, Funny

    So you're saying Bang is "!", !"*"?