If like us here at team RUSSH, you have been keeping up with everyone's new favourite collectable item, NFTs; you have probably by now become accustomed to seeing just about anything and everything being pawned off in this new wave of internet auctions. We've seen Kate Moss release a series of limited-edition intimate portraits; Andy Warhol artwork from the 80s; and most surprisingly, the covetable and iconic Hermès Birkin being turned into an NFT. But the latest addition to the NFT game is one that no one was expecting. The original World Wide Web is being sold as an NFT; so here's your chance to own what started it all.
Sir Tim Berners-Lee, who is the British scientist who originally created the internet back in 1989, (yes, a whole three decades ago), has partnered with Sotheby's to auction off the original copy of the web’s first browser. The sale is a part of Sotheby's This Changed Everything auction; which highlights items that had a profound impact during their time of origin. The single-edition digital artifact will comprise of four different parts; the original 1990 source code, an animation of the code being written, a letter written by Berners-Lee, and a digital poster of the full code.
In a statement, Berners-Lee spoke to his creation, and his hopes for the potential of the internet moving forward. "Three decades ago, I created something which, with the subsequent help of a huge number of collaborators across the world, has been a powerful tool for humanity,” he said. “While I do not make predictions about the future, I sincerely hope its use, knowledge, and potential will remain open and available to us all to continue to innovate, create and initiate the next technological transformation that we cannot yet imagine.”
Biding for the World Wide Web NFT is set to start at £710 (roughly $1,300 AUD); with all proceeds being donated towards initiatives that Berners-Lee and his wife support. While $1,300 might seem like a fairly achievable entry point for something so significant, we doubt the bids will remain at that price point for long.
Image: Pinterest
