Decoder with Nilay Patel Recode Decode: Brewster Kahle, chairman, The Internet Archive
10 snips
Mar 1, 2017 
Brewster Kahle, an entrepreneur and digital archivist, founded the Internet Archive to preserve our digital heritage. He shares insights on the importance of archiving, even in the face of copyright challenges and social media's ephemeral nature. Kahle discusses his vision of a universal digital library inspired by the Library of Alexandria and explores the ethical implications of AI, emphasizing the need for openness and competition. He also addresses job displacement and the importance of privacy in technology, advocating for transparent, nonprofit alternatives.
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Library Of Everything Origins
- Brewster Kahle traces the dream of a universal library back to the Library of Alexandria and early internet publishing efforts like WAIS.
- He argues the open web made universal access possible but warned centralization later created monopolies and limits on openness.
Alexa Sale And Archive Deal
- Kahle recounts founding Alexa Internet to catalog the web and selling it to Amazon in 1999 while creating a nonprofit copy contract.
- Alexa continues to donate daily web-collection copies to the Internet Archive with a six-month delay per that agreement.
Wayback Machine Restores Ephemeral Web
- The Wayback Machine archives a fragile web where pages last ~100 days on average and helps recover lost content.
- Kahle highlights a new searchable Wayback feature that surfaces historical campaign and news pages no longer online.
