2001 A Virtual Space Odyssey - By  John Cook CTS
Google recently posted a version of itself as it appeared in January 2001 and allowed visitors to search the internet as it looked back at the end of the Clinton years, when Napster was shut down and Microsoft released XP, back before Xbox and GameCube, before reality TV completely
  took over, in those innocent years when gas was expensive at $1.41 and a postage stamp cost 34 cents.

This, the earliest available index Google had available, is an amazing time capsule of the web. It may not have been a kinder, gentler internet, but it certainly was simpler one…Google’s first index in 1998 was 26 million pages, and by 2000 had surpassed its first billion (back then we thought “Wow – that’s a lot! Glad I have a search engine to help me find what I’m looking for!”).
 

In contrast, we have numerous ways to navigate the digital ocean today (Wikipedia – interestingly, also launched in January of 2001 – identifies 42 different search engines released for general use over the past decade and a half). It’s humbling to know that by one estimate the web is home to well over 1 trillion unique URLs out there right now, and growing by several billion pages a day.
 
  So in an attempt to use this “wayback” machine of sorts to see what the world was like just a scant eight years ago, we did some searching of our own.
 
Search Term In 2001 Today
Blog 76,400 3,230,000,000
Podcasting 0 18,000,000
Webinar 7920 6,270,000
“Second Life” 0 1,470,000
“LAN Party Gaming” 8,940 902,000
“University of Phoenix” 55,000 7,600,000
“Global warming” 390,000 37,000,000
“Sustainable building” 26,300 584,000
USGBC 1,100 485,000
“LEED certified building” 531 77,200
“Building Information Modeling” 0 326,000
“Blended learning” 399 1,620,000
e-learning 239,000 56,800,000
“Distributed learning” 382,000 344,000
“Learning commons” 3,330 667,000
“Interdisciplinary research” 71,800 1,350,000
“Black box classroom” 0 227
“Open source software” 327,000 12,900,000
iTunes 31,800 130,000
Facebook 1810 544,000,000
MySpace 71,200 751,000,000
YouTube 0 965,000,000
“Webkinz” 0 4,330,000
Netflix 13,500 1,760,000
“Stereoscopic imaging” 1770 27,600
“Immersive visualization” 1520 19,800
Humionic 41 178,000
“Wearable computing” 11,600 579,000
SCUP 92 285,000
“Serious gaming” 1800 44,200,000
“Virtual worlds” 68,500 40,600,000
"Audiovisual consultant” 130 9,210
The first stop was to amuse ourselves at current events: in 0.12 seconds we found that Barack Obama had 768 hits in 2001, vs. the 147,000,000 today. Similarly, Osama Bin Laden jumped from 7 to 12.2 million hits — not to mention Angelina Jolie leaping from a measly 120,000 to well over 40 million. (As an aside, we were also pleased to see that “The Sextant Group” increased its hit rate thirty-fold, from 71 in 2001 to over 2,100 today.) But then we thought about turning our attention to topics that impact the academic, architectural and design community. As the following chart began to take shape, it intrigued us to gaze at this quasi “quantification” and ponder how the world has really changed in eight years.

So, what does this say about how the world has changed? How does peeking through 2001-era glasses help focus on architectural and design realities of today? What does this 2001-vision reveal about shifts in pedagogies and our rapidly evolving 21st Century world? In the context of what sometimes feels like hyper-change, a good sense of how far we’ve come can perhaps help prepare us for what’s next.

We’d love to hear your thoughts and reactions.  Contact us at 412.323.8580, or jcook@TheSextantGroup.com.

John Cook
is Vice President  of The Sextant Group
 

 
  NEW FACES RECENTLY JOINING THE SEXTANT GROUP:
 
 
Atlanta
  Matt Letsinger CTS
    Project Consultant
 
 
Columbus
  Tim Kelly RCDD
    Senior Consultant
 
 
Las Vegas
  John Vollmer CTS
    CAD Specialist
 
 
Phoenix
  Wendie Gilkey
    Marketing Coordinator
 
  Mike Mirecki
    AV Systems Designer
 
 
Pittsburgh
  Brian Bacon
    CAD Specialist
 
  Greg Clark INCS
    Project Consultant
 
  Carrie Shaw
    IT/MIS Support

 

IF YOU ENJOYED THIS ISSUE OF
TRUE NORTH, YOU MAY ALSO
WANT TO READ:


 
  GREEN AV & ACOUSTICS:
Acoustical Design and
Green Building Initiatives
(by popular demand, also includes the song “Green AV” by The Sextant Singers)
 
ADVENTURES IN AV:
Sight, Sound, Motion and Emotion

 
 
39 REASONS: Why In The World Would Anyone Want to Hire a Consultant?!?
 
 
DISPLAY TRENDS:
Is Bigger Always Better?

 
 
 
The Sextant Group, Pfeiffer Partners, First Winners of North American
Audiovisual Design Award


InfoComm International Features The Sextant Group’s Award-Winning Design in Project Showcase, Invites Silicon Valley Building Community to Seminar & Tour at Santa Clara University
 
 

MARK VALENTI CTS co-presents “Reinvigorating the University Library - Incorporating the Learning Commons/Student
Success Center Concept”
at
SCUP-44, the annual international Conference and Idea Marketplace
of the Society for College
and University Planning (SCUP)

in Portland OR, July 18 - 22.

As faculty member of the Institute for Facilities Management of the
Association for Higher Education
Facilities Officers (APPA),

Mark also presented
at the Tampa gathering
this past January.

As president of InfoComm
International, Valenti presided over the Integrated Systems Europe (ISE)
global exposition and industry
event in Amsterdam,
Netherlands in February.
Mark also presented
“Learning Space 3.0: Real and
Virtual Space Collide”


JOHN COOK CTS has two
co-presentations at this April’s 
ACUI National Conference in
Anaheim CA: “Forecasting Trends
in Student Life & Technologies”

and “Staying Ahead of the
Curve: Planning Student Centers
with an Eye toward the Future”

He recently delivered the keynote
address “Emerging Technologies
in Higher Education”
to the
Virginia Community College
System Fall Conference
at
Central Virginia Community
College in Lynchburg VA,
November 2008.

Cook also was featured at 
The Higher Education Facilities
Forum
presenting
“Generation NeXt in the
Learning Environment”

at University of Virginia,
Charlottesville VA, sponsored
by Gilbane, October 2008.

Prior to that, John co-presented
"Effective Integration of
Technology for Generation NeXt
in the Learning Environment"
at
SCUP National Conference
,
Montreal in July.


David McDiarmid co-presents
“Bursting at the SEEMS”
at the
Midwest/Great Lakes Regional
Conference of the Council of
Educational Facility Planners,
International (CEFPI)
, in
Columbus OH, April 22-24.

 
  RECENT & CURRENT PROJECTS

HEALTHCARE
University of Pittsburgh
Medical Center
Center for Connected Health
Pittsburgh PA

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
University of Arizona
Arizona Biomedical Collaborative II
Phoenix AZ

CORPORATE
Westinghouse Electric Company
Corporate Headquarters
Pittsburgh PA

HIGHER EDUCATION
James Madison University
College of Integrated Science &
Technology Academic Building

Harrisonburg VA

STUDENT LIFE
San Jose State University
Student Recreation Center
Student Health & Counseling Facility

San Jose CA

SPORTS & RECREATION
University of Pittsburgh
Olympic Sports Complex
Pittsburgh PA

CIVIC & CULTURAL
Arts & Humanities Council of Tulsa
Tulsa Visual Arts Center
Tulsa OK

GOVERNMENT
The State of West Virginia
State Capitol Building
Charleston WV

LIBRARY
City of Tempe
Tempe Public Library
Tempe AZ

BROADCASTING
Ideastream/Playhouse Square
WCLV-FM Broadcast Studios
Cleveland OH
   
   

 

 


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