09/11/2025
Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web - but never sought money for it. His unusual upbringing could explain why...
"It was really important that the web should be free for anybody to use," says Tim of his invention.
He persuaded his employer, Cern - the European research centre based in Switzerland - never to charge for using the web. This means Tim is not as famous - and nowhere near as rich - as contemporaries like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates who were, curiously, all born in the same year, 1955.
In fact, "being famous must be a total pain," says Tim.
So, what inspired him to create his invention - and never crave fame or money for it?
Part of the answer could lie in his upbringing.
His mum and dad met while building the UK's first commercial computer, Ferranti Mark 1, and brought their children up to understand logic and problem solving. Tim's dad even made a model computer at home using water jets.
"He did that because then you could see that computing was just logic. It's just, if this comes on, this comes on, then this comes on," says Tim.
His parents gave him freedom to experiment. And family camping holidays gave him a strong sense of self-sufficiency. Tim's mother was a churchgoer and a driving force in the family.
"[They were] rational, but yes, one was quite devout, and also very scientific. And very creative and very imaginative,” says Tim remembering his parents.
Tim himself was a shy boy.
"Growing up, I didn't, never had a girlfriend while I was in high school. I never really went to dances and things. So I guess the energy went into mathematics and physics and electronics."
When he began working for Cern, the only way he could find out what colleagues were doing was to go for coffee with them. He realised he needed a way to help different computer systems to talk to each other.
It was a leap of imagination on his part.
"The idea that you would click and go to somewhere - anywhere - in the world… people just could not imagine it."
When he launched the World Wide Web in 1990, no-one knew the success it would become. Inspired by his parents’ values, Tim was determined that it should be free – and a force for good.
But in the last few years, he's begun to worry about the way algorithms reward people for staying on their platforms - even if that means making them angry.
"If it's trained to polarise people, then that's not a neutral piece of technology. That's a piece of technology which is making the world a worse place," he says.
He’s now working on what he calls 'pro-human' technology, in which people have control over their data, and profit isn’t the end goal.
The world which Tim created has changed beyond even his imagination. But there are things he misses about the old world – like chance meetings over coffee.
"The fact that... if you have to meet somebody, you have to go around to a friend's house to see the friend."
There may be fewer chance meetings, but Tim does value walking in London parks without being recognised. He may not be a billionaire – but that's the way he likes it.
🎧 https://bbc.in/4968vE0
