Architects of the Web »

May 1997

It is arguably the most significant business tool of our time. Seemingly overnight, the Internet has exploded from obscurity to a fantastically broad and powerful resource. More versatile than the television, fax machine, telephone, and personal computer, the Internet is a ready source of information, conversation, and entertainment all at once. The catalyst of this explosion, of course, was the rise of the World Wide Web, the Internet's multimedia domain.

Here is the first behind-the-scenes peek at the rapidly emerging industry of the Web. It profiles the crucial players involved in its genesis, including

• Marc Andreesen, coauthor of Mosaic and cofounder of Netscape;
• Kim Polese, who led the Java movement at Sun Microsystems and recently started a venture called Marimba;
• Mark Pesce, creator of VRML, the language that brings virtual reality to the web;
• Jerry Yang, cocreator of Yahoo!, the Internet's leading directory service; and
• Andrew Anker, of HotWired, a pioneer in bringing Wired magazine online.

They are an eclectic group -- diverse enough that their stories give readers a broad and thorough understanding of the Web's history, its capabilities and its business relevance. The stories are presented in a way that makes the concepts and forces they discuss accessible and understandable. All are interesting, funny, and highly significant to the present and future of business.