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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 |
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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!”).
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| 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.
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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.
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| 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 |
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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
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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.
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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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