Editorial Spreads: Process Book

E DITO R I AL S PR EADS

DESIGN 330 / TYPOGRAPHY / SHAYNE SMITH

R ES EARCH & I D EATIO N

R E S E A RC H & I D E AT I O N PAGE 4

CONTENT

DIAGRA M IDENTIFY THE PRIMARY SUBJECT AS WELL AS THE VERBAL STRUCTURE OF YOUR CHOSEN ARTICLE. CREATE A VISUAL MAP/DIAGRAM SUMMARIZING THE MAIN POINTS OF THE ARTICLE. The ar ticle I chose was from WIRED Magazine, a monthly Americ an magazine that repor ts on how emerging technologie s af fect culture, the economy and politics, writ ten by Ryan Tate c alled “Twit ter Founder Reveals Secret Formula for Get ting Rich Online”. It was published on September 30, 2013.

The main subject of the ar ticle was Ev Williams, an internet entrepreneur who has founded several Internet companie s like Blog ger and Twit ter. He spoke at the 2013 XOXO Conference in Por tland, Oregon about his experience and ideas on what the Internet has become and “how to get rich online”.

Through trying to break down and visualize the content of the ar ticle, I found most of the points made by Ev, and writ ten about by Ryan, could be broken down into three dif ferent c ategorie s: what the Internet is, how the Internet works, and how to get rich from the Internet. I went through the ar ticle and picked out specific quote s and passage s that went into each c ategory. This helped me understand the content more and realize what the most impor tant points are in the ar ticle.

T W I T T E R

F O U N D E R

R E V E A L S

S E C R E T

E V W I L L I A M S, T H E I N V E N TO R O F B LO G G E R A N D

F O R M U L A

F O R

G E T T I N G

R I C H

O N L I N E

S OU R C E :

T W I T T E R , H A S F I G U R E D O U T T H E I N T E R N E T. A T T H E X O X O C O N F E R E N C E I N P O R L A N D, O R E G O N HE REVEALS HIS FINDINGS AND EXPERIENCES O F 2 0 - Y E A R S O F H A R D T H I N K I N G.

W H AT T H E I N T E R N E T I S / / // // // //

A giant machine de signed to give people what they want.

The type s of people and groups you find onlin e are basic ally identic al to the people and groups you find in the physic al world. What ’s impor tant are the connections between the people and the machine s.

It isn’t a magic al universe with boundle ss potential. It ’s just another engine for improving quality of life.

Agriculture, like the Internet made life bet ter. It not only got people fed, it freed them up to do many more things — to create ar t and invent things.

HOW THE INTERNET WORKS // // We of ten think the web enable s you to do new things, but people just want to do the same things they’ve always done. // It make s h uman de sire s more easily at tainable. In other words, it of fers convenience. // But we of ten take convenience too far. Look at the technology of agriculture taken to an extreme — where we have industrialized farms that are not good for the environment or animals or nourishment. Look at a country full of people who have had such convenient acce ss to c alorie s that they’re addicted, obe se, and sick. He likens this agricultural nightmare to our unhealthy obse ssion with internet numbers like retweets and like s and followers and friends.

HOW TO GET RICH FROM THE INTERNET // // The real tr ick is to find something that ’s tried and true — and to do it bet ter. // Those who c an tune that engine well — who solve basic human problems with greater speed and simplicity than those who c ame before — will profit immensely. Those who lose sight of basic human needs — who want to give people the next great idea — will have problems. // If you study what the really big things on the internet are, you realize they are masters at making things fast and not making people think. // The key to making a for tune online is to remove extra steps from common activitie s as he did with Blog ger. // Here’s the formula if you want to build a billion-dollar internet company: take a human de sire, preferably one that has been around for a really long time…Identify that de sire and use modern technology to take out steps.

R E S E A RC H & I D E AT I O N PAGE 6

VISUAL

ASSETS GATHER RELATED VISUAL ASSETS AND INFLUENCES. INCLUDE AT LEAST ONE PHOTOGRAPH (CONTINUOUS TONE), ONE ILLUSTRATED GRAPHIC (LINE ART), AND ONE TEXTURE (CONTINUOUS TONE OR LINE ART) IN ADDITION TO THE TEXT. Through finding visuals for my magazine spread de sign, I found some good quality, large re solution picture s online of Ev Williams to potentially use on either my opening or continuing spread. I chose a dark image of Ev speaking at a conference looking rather serious for my opening spread.

I ended up editing the image in Photoshop to make it greysc ale and also have a solid black background. I chose this image for the opening spread bec ause I wanted something that was serious, eye-c atching, impact ful, and the way Ev is looking will lead readers to the right-side of the page and will also lead them to read on.

For the continuing spread I chose a much lighter image of Ev looking directly forward in front of a white background with his shadow behind him.

I edited it into a greysc ale as well. This image has quite a bit of contrast with the first image in how much lighter it is, but this picture is still in greysc ale and Ev is also wearing a sweater in it, which helps link to the texture I found.

The texture I found was a grainy light blue/teal texture that will create some noise, color and depth against the greysc ale image s. I also chose to use a pat tern of small grey square s lined up in a per fect grid that repre sents technic al data, relating to the topic of the Internet and technology.

The graphic I chose was the Twit ter logo. This graphic was used only in the continuing spread.

CO N CE PT D EVE LO PM E NT

CO N C E P T D E V E LO P M E N T PAGE 10

AUDIENCE

PROFILES DEVELOP THREE AUDIENCE PROFILES MAKING SURE THEY ARE CLEARLY DISTINCT FROM EACH OTHER. LOOK AT PUBLICATIONS DESIGNED FOR THESE GROUPS. COLLECT SAMPLES OF TYPOGRAPHIC VERNACULARS THAT RELATE TO EACH OF YOUR CHOSEN PROFILES. My first audience profile is for a young man who is a focused computer programmer and take s a lot of inspiration from succe ssful technic al profe ssionals. I feel he would be my highe st demographic for a magazine spread like this, so when I first star ted making concepts I had the aspiring tech-sav vy college student in mind.

The audience profile I made second was an older gentleman that subscribe s to many current event public ations and wants to stay up to date politic ally, economic ally and socially with what is going on in the world. He would be a secondary demographic bec ause I c an picture someone like him flipping through a magazine to a page about Ev Williams and how to get rich online and would take the time to read it.

The third audience member is a succe ssful and e stablished woman in her late-20s who love s fashion, DIY projects, blog ging, entrepreneurship, Twit ter and technology. She would be intere sted in the ar ticle bec ause she would be fascinated by Ev ’s leadership and experience, and how Ev has become so succe ssful online.

All three of my audience profile s would have dif ferent ae sthetic taste s, so I included some spreads and typography treatments that related to each person and would inspire me in my spread de sign.

A U D I E N C E

P R O F I L E

FAV O R I T E M AGA Z I N E S

Nathan is an aspired computer programmer with focused skills in IT, networking, and web development. He has many “ tech heroe s�, as he puts it. Tim Cook and Steve Jobs of Apple, David Karp of Tumblr, Jack Dorsey and Evan Williams of Twit ter, Larry Page of Google, Bill Gate s and Steve B allmer of Microsof t, are just a few of his most influential people in his life. Nathan is a graduate student at University of Florida, where his studie s are very in-depth but rewarding. He enjoys reading up on the late st computer and technology news online on his computer, phone or tablet device.

AGE 23

F AV O R I T E WEBSITES

N AT H A N ST R O N G |

O N E

re d d it g oog le tw it te r face b ook tumb lr y outub e top cod e r cod e ch e f

w ire d p op ularme ch anics p cw or ld macw or ld smar tcomp uting time s

CO N C E P T D E V E LO P M E N T

A U D I E N C E

P R O F I L E

T W O

R AY VA U T E R |

AGE 48

FAV O R I T E M AGA Z I N E S

Ray is a middle-aged working class man who has an intere st in keeping up with what is going on in the national-scope of society.

This include s topics in politics, world, busine ss, money, technic al and health. He is well-educ ated and live s in New York City. He has a wife and three children and works at About.com as Director of Product Management. He enjoys going out to dinner with his family at least three time s a week. The bond he has with his co-workers spreads to spending time outside of the of fice discussing current events and ar ticle s sometime s at a conference or loc al pub.

F AV O R I T E WEBSITES

PAGE 12 ( A U D I E N C E P R O F I L E S C O N T. )

a bo ut linkedIn go o gle fa cebo o k twit ter net flix yelp amazo n

t ime s t he guardia n huf fingto npo s t new yo rkt ime s wired fo rbe s

P R O F I L E

Kellee live s in Nor th London with her 2-yearold daughter and her husband who runs his own consultancy busine ss. She works an executive position within a top 100 company making approx imately ÂŁ50,000 per annum.

She has a busy profe ssional and social life, so when she has time she like s to relax and read some of her favorite public ations about fashion, DIY projects, entrepreneurship, health, fitne ss, spirituality, technology, interior de sign, and the trends of the day.

She also helps her husband with social media management for his company and runs her own blog.

AGE 29

FAV O R I T E M AGA Z I N E S

KELLEE WHITE |

T H R E E

F AV O R I T E WEBSITES

A U D I E N C E

p inte re st face b ook tumb lr tw it te r y outub e e tsy stumb le up on link e d in

h ar p e r ’sb azaar up w or th y re al simp le e ntre p re ne ur b od y + soul time s w ire d

CO N C E P T D E V E LO P M E N T PAGE 14

OPENING SPREAD CONCEPTS

DEVELOP COMPLETE CONCEPTS FOR THE OPENING SPREAD. EACH CONCEPT SHOULD COMMUNICATE TO YOUR THREE DIFFERENT AUDIENCES. THE PAGE SHOULD HAVE AN IMMEDIATE VISUAL/VERBAL IMPACT THAT WOULD INVITE THE READER INTO THE STORY. IT SHOULD ALSO PROVIDE A CLEAR PACE AND SEQUENCING OF ELEMENTS THAT WOULD SUSTAIN INTEREST AND THE READABILITY OF ITS CONTENTS. Initially I made a couple concepts for my first audience profile, an IT/computer programmer student who is inspired by the great modern technology leaders. I star ted using dif ferent type treatments and fonts for dif ferent elements and positioned them in how I felt they were most succe ssful and intere sting. For example, in the second concept on the right I put “Ev Williams has figured out the internet.” in the top lef t corner to give it some emphasis and intere st. Then I moved onto my third audience member, who would appreciate something more light and color ful, which you see in the third concept on the right. Much of what other students said about this one was the type style was too trendy, but it did fit very well with the female blog ger profile.

Next I experimented with using similar type treatments in the third concept but with the darker image of Ev and le ss trendy elements. I star ted to add the teal texture to the opening spread to anchor the first par t of the body copy. I brought in the small square pat tern in as a bar at the bot tom to anchor the elements even more. The concept in the middle was one I did for the second audience profile, large block type and simple but eyec atching type style s.

Through the end of my concept and ideation phase, I began combining new and old ideas together to make the most ef fective opening spread.

EV WILLIAMS HAS FIGURED OUT THE INTERNET.

That’s what he told the gathered tech heads at the recent XOXO conference in Portland, Oregon, and while he may have said this with tongue partly in cheek, he spent the next 30

TWITTER FOUNDER REVEALS SECRET FORMULA FOR GETTING RICH ONLINE

network, an interpretation formed after 20 years of hard thinking — to say nothing of his experience creating seminal internet companies Blogger and Twitter.

In his speech, Williams explained what the internet is, how it works, and how to get rich from it. Truth be told, Williams is not the best public speaker, but his message was clear: At a time when so many internet entrepreneurs are running around Silicon Valley trying to do something no one else has ever that’s tried and true — and to do it better. It’s a speech that should serve as a signpost, a bit of much-needed direction for the Valley’s younger generation.

The bottom line, Williams said, is that the internet is “a giant machine designed to give people what they want.” It’s not a utopia. It’s not magical. It’s simply an engine of convenience.

Those who can tune that engine well — who solve basic human problems with greater speed and simplicity than those who

williams HAS FIGURED OUT THE INTERNET

basic human needs — who want to give people the next great idea — will have problems.

That’s what he told the gathered tech heads at the recent XOXO conference in Portland, Oregon, and while he may have said this with tongue partly in cheek, he spent the next 30 network, an interpretation formed after 20 years of hard thinking — to say nothing of his experience creating seminal internet companies Blogger and Twitter.

In his speech, Williams explained what the internet is, how it works, and how to get rich from it. Truth be told, Williams is not the best public speaker, but his message was clear: At a time when so many internet entrepreneurs are running around Silicon Valley trying to do something no one else has ever

TWITTER FOUNDER REVEALS

that’s tried and true — and to do it better. It’s a speech that should serve as a signpost, a bit of much-needed direction for the Valley’s younger generation.

s ec r e t fo r m u l a fo r

The bottom line, Williams said, is that the internet is “a giant machine designed to give people what they want.” It’s not a utopia. It’s not magical. It’s simply an engine of convenience.

Those who can tune that engine well — who solve basic human problems with greater speed and simplicity than those who basic human needs — who want to give people the next great idea — will have problems.

getting rich online

23

TWITTER FOUNDER REVEALS SECRET FORMULA

23

E V WILLIAMS

SECRET FORMULA

GETTIN G

THE INTERNET

GETTIN G

TWITTER FOUNDER REVEALS SECRET FORMULA FOR GETTING RICH ONLINE

ONLINE

EV WILLIAMS HAS FIGURED OUT THE INTERNET.

network, an interpretation formed after 20 years of hard thinking — to say nothing of his experience creating seminal internet companies Blogger and Twitter.

In his speech, Williams explained what the internet is, how it works, and how to get rich from it. Truth be told, Williams is not the best public speaker, but his message was clear: At a time when so many internet entrepreneurs are running around Silicon Valley trying to do something no one else

WIRED MAGAZINE / SEPTEMBER 2013

HAS FIGURED OUT THE INTERNET

has ever done, Williams believes that the and true — and to do it better. It’s a speech that should serve as a signpost, a bit of much-needed direction for the Valley’s younger generation.

That’s what he told the gathered tech heads at the recent XOXO conference in Portland, Oregon, and while he may have said this with tongue partly in cheek, he spent the next 30 minutes unloading his

The bottom line, Williams said, is that the internet is “a giant machine designed to give people what they want.” It’s not a utopia. It’s not magical. It’s simply an engine of convenience. Those who can tune that engine well — who solve basic human problems with greater speed and simplicity

network, an interpretation formed after 20 years of hard thinking — to say nothing of his experience creating seminal internet companies Blogger and Twitter.

In his speech, Williams explained what the internet is, how it works, and how to get rich from it. Truth be told, Williams is not the best public speaker, but his message was clear: At a time when so many internet entrepreneurs are running around Silicon Valley trying to do something no one else

immensely. Those who lose sight of basic human needs — who want to give people the next great idea — will have problems.

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has ever done, Williams believes that the and true — and to do it better. It’s a speech that should serve as a signpost, a bit of much-needed direction for the Valley’s younger generation.

The bottom line, Williams said, is that the internet is “a giant machine designed to give people what they want.” It’s not a utopia. It’s not magical. It’s simply an engine of convenience. Those who can tune that engine well — who solve basic human problems with greater speed and simplicity

That’s what he told the gathered tech heads at the recent XOXO conference in Portland, Oregon, and while he may have said this with tongue partly in cheek, he spent the next 30 minutes unloading his

WIRED MAGAZINE / SEPTEMBER 2013

That’s what he told the gathered tech heads at the recent XOXO conference in Portland, Oregon, and while he may have said this with tongue partly in cheek, he spent the next 30 minutes unloading his

WIRED MAGAZINE / SEPTEMBER 2013

ONLINE

network, an interpretation formed after 20 years of hard thinking — to say nothing of his experience creating seminal internet companies Blogger and Twitter.

In his speech, Williams explained what the internet is, how it works, and how to get rich from it. Truth be told, Williams is not the best public speaker, but his message was clear: At a time when so many internet entrepreneurs are running around Silicon Valley trying to do something no one else

immensely. Those who lose sight of basic human needs — who want to give people the next great idea — will have problems.

22

TWITTER FOUNDER REVEALS SECRET FORMULA FOR

TWITTER FOUNDER REVEALS SECRET FORMULA GETTING

That’s what he told the gathered tech heads at the recent XOXO conference in Portland, Oregon, and while he may have said this with tongue partly in cheek, he theory of the global computer network, an interpretation formed after 20 years of hard thinking — to say nothing of his experience creating seminal internet companies Blogger and Twitter.

interpretation formed after 20 years of hard thinking — to say nothing of his experience creating seminal internet companies Blogger and Twitter.

In his speech, Williams explained what the internet is, how it works, and how to get rich from it. Truth be told, Williams is not the best public speaker, but his message was clear: At a time when so many internet entrepreneurs are running around Silicon Valley trying to do something no one else has ever done,

In his speech, Williams explained what the internet is, how it works, and how to get rich from it. Truth be told, Williams is not the best public speaker, but his message was clear: At a time when so many internet entrepreneurs are running around Silicon Valley trying to do something no one else has ever

something that’s tried and true — and to do it better.

It’s a speech that should serve as a signpost, a bit of much-needed direction for the Valley’s younger generation.

online

The bottom line, Williams said, is that the internet is “a giant machine designed to give people what they want.” It’s not a utopia. It’s not magical. It’s simply an engine of convenience. Those who can tune that engine well — who solve basic human problems with greater speed and simplicity than those who came of basic human needs — who want to give people the next great idea — will have problems.

WIRED MAGAZINE / SEPTEMBER 2013

That’s what he told the gathered tech heads at the recent XOXO conference in Portland, Oregon, and while he may have said this with tongue partly in cheek, he spent the next 30 minutes unloading his

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something that’s tried and true — and to do it better. It’s a speech that should serve as a signpost, a bit of much-needed direction for the Valley’s younger generation.

The bottom line, Williams said, is that the internet is “a giant machine designed to give people what they want.” It’s not a utopia. It’s not magical. It’s simply an engine of convenience. Those who can tune that engine well — who solve basic human problems with greater speed and simplicity than those who came of basic human needs — who want to give people the next great idea — will have problems.

WIRED MAGAZINE / SEPTEMBER 2013

23

has ever done, Williams believes that the and true — and to do it better. It’s a speech that should serve as a signpost, a bit of much-needed direction for the Valley’s younger generation.

The bottom line, Williams said, is that the internet is “a giant machine designed to give people what they want.” It’s not a utopia. It’s not magical. It’s simply an engine of convenience. Those who can tune that engine well — who solve basic human problems with greater speed and simplicity immensely. Those who lose sight of basic human needs — who want to give people the next great idea — will have problems.

CO N C E P T D E V E LO P M E N T PAGE 16

OPENING SPREAD FINAL DESIGN

REFINE YOUR STRONGEST CONCEPT INTO A FINAL OPENING SPREAD. Through all of the experimentation that happened with my creative proce ss for this opening spread, I finally c ame up with a final de sign. I feel it is my stronge st opening spread concept in its simplicity, layout, overall spacing/grid, and how all of the dif ferent type and image elements work together. What I am most proud of is how I was able to take such a simple/dark/serious picture and make it exciting. It looks as if Ev is looking directly at the ar ticle title and the opening paragraph. I am also proud of the type style s I created, e specially the “get ting rich online� par t. I think all of the fonts I used worked really well together, and so do the texture s.

TWITTER FOUNDER REVEALS SECRET FORMULA GETTING

That’s what he told the gathered tech heads at the recent XOXO conference in Portland, Oregon, and while he may have said this with tongue partly in cheek, he spent the next 30 minutes unloading his interpretation formed after 20 years of hard thinking — to say nothing of his experience creating seminal internet companies Blogger and Twitter.

In his speech, Williams explained what the internet is, how it works, and how to get rich from it. Truth be told, Williams is not the best public speaker, but his message was clear: At a time when so many internet entrepreneurs are running around Silicon Valley trying to do something no one else has ever

online

something that’s tried and true — and to do it better. It’s a speech that should serve as a signpost, a bit of much-needed direction for the Valley’s younger generation.

The bottom line, Williams said, is that the internet is “a giant machine designed to give people what they want.” It’s not a utopia. It’s not magical. It’s simply an engine of convenience. Those who can tune that engine well — who solve basic human problems with greater speed and simplicity than those who came of basic human needs — who want to give people the next great idea — will have problems.

WIRED MAGAZINE / SEPTEMBER 2013

23

SYSTE M D EVE LO PM E NT

SYS T E M D E V E LO P M E N T PAGE 20

CONTINUING SPREAD CONCEPTS

REFINE YOUR STRONGEST CONCEPT AND DEVELOP IT TO THE CONTINUING SPREAD. ADDITIONAL IMAGES, CHARTS, AND OTHER GRAPHIC ELEMENTS MAY BE ADDED TO THE CONTINUING SPREAD. DEVELOP ALTERNATIVES, ALL SYSTEMATICALLY RELATED TO THE SAME CHOSEN CONCEPT OF THE OPENING SPREAD. I took the same idea I had for the third opening spread concept and brought that into the continuing spread. I thought that it was a strong concept with use of the light image of Ev with the blue texture par tially over his face as if he is hiding and really has a secret. There is a visual sense of depth created in this concept. The grey shadow behind Ev is the fur the st back, and the footer with the public ation name/date and page number is the fur the st front. I experimented with having the body copy area be all the way to the lef t of the spread or having a bit of white space on the lef t, which I ended up going with having space on the lef t. It worked bet ter visually.

With the continuing spread I included the re st of the ar ticle with a few pullout quote s. My first idea was to have a simple de sign for the se quote s but I c ame up with the idea to make them look like tweets. I styled them as a Tweet would look, using the same font Twit ter use s, since this ar ticle is about the Twit ter founder. But those seemed too real, as if Ev actually Tweeted them. So I styled them down for the later concepts and they still were ef fective. I also experimented with adding the Twit ter clouds at the bot tom of the spread, like Twit ter has in their user inter face. But they weren’t reading correctly and crowded the spread.

I also had a pullout quote to the right of Ev ’s face that blended well with the small square pat tern. I experimented with it being black or grey and I tried dif ferent alternative s of how it c an line up with the square s in dif ferent ways.

“We often think of the internet enables you to do new things,” Williams said.

“But people just want to do the same things they’ve always done.”

In 1994, Williams was a Nebraska college dropout selling tutorial videos to help people get onto the net. In those videos, he described the global computer network as “a puzzle comprised of three things: Computers, information, and people.” But he no longer sees it that way.

content on the web. Instead of creating a new document, saving it, manually uploading it, and viewing it in a web browser, people could simply type their content into a web form and click “publish.”

The key to making a fortune online, Williams told the XOXO crowd, is to remove extra steps from common activities as he did with Blogger.

After leaving Twitter in 2011 and helping to incubate, among other things, the blog network Medium, Williams found himself rethinking his original

“Here’s the formula if you want to build a billion-dollar internet company,” he said. “Take a human desire, preferably one that has been around for a really long time…Identify that desire and use modern technology to take out steps.”

“WE OFTEN THINK OF THE INTERNET ENABLES YOU TO DO NEW THINGS. BUT PEOPLE JUST WANT TO DO THE SAME THINGS T H E Y ’ V E A LWAYS D O N E ”

His recent example is Uber. “How old is the desire of getting from here to there?” he said. “How hard was it really to do? They took out some steps in that process…They formed a connection between you and the driver.”

— E V WIL L IA MS

to the point of being unremarkable. Information has become similarly abundant, rendering the term unsatisfyingly generic. And after 20 years, the

connections between the people and the machines.

“There are hardware connections, then there are all these interactions involved with data and software,” Williams says. “And if you look at any big internet thing, you see it’s basically a big hive of connections. A Follow is a connection.

A Like is a connection.

“What the internet is doing now is connecting everyone and everything, every event and every thought, in multiple ways — layer upon layer of connection.

Increasingly, everything that happens and everything we do, everyplace you go and check in, every thought you have and share, and every person who liked that thought… is all connected…and it keeps multiplying relentlessly.”

These connections aren’t just proliferating, he said. They’re proliferating in a particular direction. There’s an organizing principle that explains what thrives on the internet and could potentially predict what will thrive in the future: Convenience.

“The internet makes human desires more easily attainable. In other words, it offers convenience,” he said. “Convenience on the internet is basically achieved by two things: speed, and cognitive ease.” In other words, people don’t want to wait, and they don’t want to think — and the internet should respond to that. “If you study what the really big things on the internet are, you realize they are masters at making things fast and not making people think.”

Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Apple were all excellent at delivering this sort of convenience, Williams said. They often got there by removing steps from what had once been a more complex series of actions, precisely the trick that

“We often think of the internet enables you to do new things,” Williams said.

“But people just want to do the same things they’ve always done.”

saving it, manually uploading it, and viewing it in a web browser, people could simply type their content into a web form and click “publish.”

In 1994, Williams was a Nebraska college dropout selling tutorial videos to help people get onto the net. In those videos, he described the global computer network as “a puzzle comprised of three things: Computers, information, and people.” But he no longer sees it that way.

The key to making a fortune online, Williams told the XOXO crowd, is to remove extra steps from common activities as he did with Blogger.

After leaving Twitter in 2011 and helping to incubate, among other things, the blog network Medium, Williams found himself rethinking his original

We often think of the internet enables you to do new things. But people just want to do the same things they’ve always done.

“Here’s the formula if you want to build a billion-dollar internet company,” he said. “Take a human desire, preferably one that has been around for a really long time…Identify that desire and use modern technology to take out steps.”

3:40 PM Sep 21st from XOXO Conference in Portland, Oregon

Evan Williams @ev

“we often think of the internet enables you to do new things. but people just want to do the same things they’ve always done.”

Williams’ philosophy might seem pedestrian. But that’s the point. Twenty years after people began using the web en masse, it’s time, Williams said, to accept that the internet isn’t a magical universe with boundless potential. It ’s just another engine for improving quality of life.

“The internet is not what I thought it was 20 years ago,” Williams said. “It’s not a utopian world. It’s essentially like a lot of other major technological revolutions that have taken place in the history of the world.” He compares it to, well, agriculture. “[Agriculture] made life better. It not only got people fed, it freed them up to do many more things — to create art and invent things.”

THE KEY TO MAKING A FORTUNE ONLINE IS TO REMOVE EXTRA STEPS FROM COMMON ACTIVITIES.

The rub is that we often take convenience too far. “Look at the technology of agriculture taken to an extreme — where we have industrialized farms that are

function, to the point of being unremarkable. Information has become similarly abundant, rendering the term unsatisfyingly generic. And after 20

important are the connections between the people and the machines.

“There are hardware connections, then there are all these interactions involved with data and software,” Williams says. “And if you look at any big internet thing, you see it’s basically a big hive of connections. A Follow is a connection. A Like is a connection.

“THE INTERNET IS NOT WHAT I THOUGHT IT WAS YEARS AGO. IT’S NOT A UTOPIAN WORLD. IT’S E S S E N T I A L LY L I K E A L O T O F OTHER MAJOR TE HNOLOGI AL REVOLUTIONS THAT HAVE TAKEN PLA E IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD”

“What the internet is doing now is connecting everyone and everything, every event and every thought, in multiple ways — layer upon layer of connection. Increasingly, everything that happens and everything we do, everyplace you go and check in, every thought you have and share, and every person who liked that thought… is all connected…and it keeps multiplying relentlessly.”

These connections aren’t just proliferating, he said. They’re proliferating in a particular direction. There’s an organizing principle that explains what thrives on the internet and could potentially predict what will thrive in the future: Convenience.

— E V WIL L IA M S

“The internet makes human desires more easily attainable. In other words, it offers convenience,” he said. “Convenience on the internet is basically achieved by two things: speed, and cognitive ease.” In other words, people don’t want to wait, and they don’t want to think — and the internet should respond to that. “If you study what the really big things on the internet are, you realize they are masters at making things fast and not making people think.”

not good for the environment or animals or nourishment,” he says. “Look at a country full of people who have had such convenient access to calories that they’re addicted, obese, and sick.” He likens this agricultural nightmare to our unhealthy obsession with internet numbers like retweets and likes and followers and friends.

That warning wasn’t so much a slam on Twitter, which Williams helped create, as it was an observation about human nature. People will be people. The internet wants to give them exactly what they’re looking for. And people who understand how to channel that tendency will be disproportionately powerful.

Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Apple were all excellent at delivering this sort of convenience, Williams said. They often got there by removing steps from what had once been a more complex series of actions, precisely the people put new content on the web. Instead of creating a new document,

WIRED MAGAZINE / SEPTEMBER 2013

25

We often think of the internet enables you to do new things.

But people just want to do the same things they’ve always done.

3:40 PM Sep 21st from XOXO Conference in Portland, Oregon

Evan Williams @ev

“We often think of the internet enables you to do new things,” Williams said. “But people just want to do the same things they’ve always done.”

In 1994, Williams was a Nebraska college dropout selling tutorial videos to help people get onto the net. In those videos, he described the global computer network as “a puzzle comprised of three things: Computers, information, and people.” But he no longer sees it that way.

After leaving Twitter in 2011 and helping to incubate, among other things, the blog network Medium, Williams found himself rethinking his original function, to the point of being unremarkable. Information has become similarly abundant, rendering the term unsatisfyingly generic. And after

now important are the connections between the people and the machines.

“There are hardware connections, then there are all these interactions involved with data and software,” Williams says. “And if you look at any big internet thing, you see it’s basically a big hive of connections. A Follow is a connection. A Like is a connection.

“What the internet is doing now is connecting everyone and everything, every event and every thought, in multiple ways — layer upon layer of connection. Increasingly, everything that happens and everything we do, everyplace you go and check in, every thought you have and share, and every person who liked that thought… is all connected…and it keeps multiplying relentlessly.”

These connections aren’t just proliferating, he said. They’re proliferating in a particular direction. There’s an organizing principle that explains what thrives on the internet and could potentially predict what will thrive in the future: Convenience.

“The internet makes human desires more easily attainable. In other words, it offers convenience,” he said. “Convenience on the internet is basically achieved by two things: speed, and cognitive ease.” In other words, people don’t want to wait, and they don’t want to think — and the internet should respond to that. “If you study what the really big things on the internet are, you realize they are masters at making things fast and not making people think.”

Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Apple were all excellent at delivering this sort of convenience, Williams said. They often got there by removing steps from what had once been a more complex series of actions, dominate how people put new content on the web. Instead of creating a

WIRED MAGAZINE / SEPTEMBER 2013

His recent example is Uber. “How old is the desire of getting from here to there?” he said. “How hard was it really to do? They took out some steps in that process…They formed a connection between you and the driver.”

“We often think of the internet enables you to do new things,” Williams said. “But people just want to do the same things they’ve always done.”

Williams’ philosophy might seem pedestrian. But that’s the point. Twenty years after people began using the web en masse, it’s time, Williams said, to accept that the internet isn’t a magical universe with boundless potential. It’s just another engine for improving quality of life.

In 1994, Williams was a Nebraska college dropout selling tutorial videos to help people get onto the net. In those videos, he described the global computer network as “a puzzle comprised of three things: Computers, information, and people.” But he no longer sees it that way.

“The internet is not what I thought it was 20 years ago,” Williams said. “It’s not a utopian world. It’s essentially like a lot of other major technological revolutions that have taken place in the history of the world.” He compares it to, well, agriculture. “[Agriculture] made life better. It not only got people fed, it freed them up to do many more things — to create art and invent things.”

After leaving Twitter in 2011 and helping to incubate, among other things, the blog network Medium, Williams found himself rethinking his original formulation. Computers

“THE KEY TO MAKING A FORTUNE ONLINE IS TO REMOVE EXTRA STEPS FROM COMMON ACTIVITIES.”

The rub is that we often take convenience too far. “Look at the technology of agriculture taken to an extreme — where we have industrialized farms

unremarkable. Information has become similarly abundant, rendering the term

The key to making a fortune online, Williams told the XOXO crowd, is to remove extra steps from common activities as he did with Blogger.

“Here’s the formula if you want to build a billion-dollar internet company,” he said. “Take a human desire, preferably one that has been around for a really long time…Identify that desire and use modern technology to take out steps.”

His recent example is Uber. “How old is the desire of getting from here to there?” he said. “How hard was it really to do? They took out some steps in that process…They formed a connection between you and the driver.”

Williams’ philosophy might seem pedestrian. But that’s the point. Twenty years after people began using the web en masse, it’s time, Williams said, to accept that the internet isn’t a magical universe with boundless potential. It’s just another engine for improving quality of life.

“The internet is not what I thought it was 20 years ago,” Williams said. “It’s not a utopian world. It’s essentially like a lot of other major technological revolutions that have taken place in the history of the world.” He compares it to, well, agriculture. “[Agriculture] made life better. It not only got people fed, it freed them up to do many more things — to create art and invent things.”

The rub is that we often take convenience too far. “Look at the technology of agriculture taken to an extreme — where we have industrialized farms that are not good for the environment or animals or nourishment,” he says. “Look at a country full of people who have had such convenient access to calories that they’re addicted, obese, and sick.” He likens this agricultural nightmare to our unhealthy obsession with internet numbers like retweets and likes and followers and friends.

“THE KEY TO MAKING A FORTUNE ONLINE IS TO REMOVE EXTRA STEPS FROM COMMON ACTIVITIES.”

What’s now important are the connections between the people and the machines.

“There are hardware connections, then there are all these interactions involved with data and software,” Williams says. “And if you look at any big internet thing, you see it’s basically a big hive of connections. A Follow is a connection. A Like is a connection.

“the internet is not what i thought it was 20 years ago. it’s not a utopian world. it’s essentially like a lot of other major technological revolutions that have taken place in the history of the world.”

“What the internet is doing now is connecting everyone and everything, every event and every thought, in multiple ways — layer upon layer of connection. Increasingly, everything that happens and everything we do, everyplace you go and check in, every thought you have and share, and every person who liked that thought… is all connected…and it keeps multiplying relentlessly.”

The internet is not what I thought it was 20 years ago. It’s not a utopian world. It’s essentially like a lot of other major technological revolutions that have taken place in the history of the world.

3:40 PM Sep 21st from XOXO Conference in Portland, Oregon

These connections aren’t just proliferating, he said. They’re proliferating in a particular direction. There’s an organizing principle that explains what thrives on the internet and could potentially predict what will thrive in the future: Convenience.

Evan Williams @ev

“The internet makes human desires more easily attainable. In other words, it offers convenience,” he said. “Convenience on the internet is basically achieved by two things: speed, and cognitive ease.” In other words, people don’t want to wait, and they don’t want to think — and the internet should respond to that. “If you study what the really big things on the internet are, you realize they are masters at making things fast and not making people think.”

that are not good for the environment or animals or nourishment,” he says.

“Look at a country full of people who have had such convenient access to calories that they’re addicted, obese, and sick.” He likens this agricultural nightmare to our unhealthy obsession with internet numbers like retweets and likes and followers and friends.

Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Apple were all excellent at delivering this sort of convenience, Williams said. They often got there by removing steps from what had once

That warning wasn’t so much a slam on Twitter, which Williams helped create, as it was an observation about human nature. People will be people.

The internet wants to give them exactly what they’re looking for. And people who understand how to channel that tendency will be disproportionately powerful.

That warning wasn’t so much a slam on Twitter, which Williams helped create, as it was an observation about human nature. People will be people. The internet wants to give them exactly what they’re looking for. And people who understand how to channel that tendency will be disproportionately powerful.

W R I T T E N B Y R Y A N T AT E / P H OTO S B Y A N D R E W W H I T E , W I R E D & G E T T Y I M A G ES

invention, Blogger, to dominate how people put new content on the web. Instead of creating a new document, saving it, manually uploading it, and viewing it in a web browser, people could simply type their content into a web form and click “publish.”

WRITTEN BY RYAN TATE / PH OTOS BY ANDREW WHITE, WIRED & GETTY IMAGES

WIRED MAGAZINE / SEPTEMBER 2013

25

new document, saving it, manually uploading it, and viewing it in a web browser, people could simply type their content into a web form and click “publish.”

We often think of the internet enables you to do new things. But people just want to do the same things they’ve always done.

The key to making a fortune online, Williams told the XOXO crowd, is to remove extra steps from common activities as he did with Blogger.

“Here’s the formula if you want to build a billion-dollar internet company,” he said. “Take a human desire, preferably one that has been around for a really long time…Identify that desire and use modern technology to take out steps.”

“We often think of the internet enables you to do new things,” Williams said. “But people just want to do the same things they’ve always done.”

His recent example is Uber. “How old is the desire of getting from here to there?” he said. “How hard was it really to do? They took out some steps in that process…They formed a connection between you and the driver.”

In 1994, Williams was a Nebraska college dropout selling tutorial videos to help people get onto the net. In those videos, he described the global computer network as “a puzzle comprised of three things: Computers, information, and people.” But he no longer sees it that way.

Williams’ philosophy might seem pedestrian. But that’s the point. Twenty years after people began using the web en masse, it’s time, Williams said, to accept that the internet isn’t a magical universe with boundless potential. It’s just another engine for improving quality of life.

After leaving Twitter in 2011 and helping to incubate, among other things, the blog network Medium, Williams found himself rethinking his original formulation. Computers have proliferated and

“The internet is not what I thought it was 20 years ago,” Williams said.

“It’s not a utopian world. It’s essentially like a lot of other major technological revolutions that have taken place in the history of the world.” He compares it to, well, agriculture. “[Agriculture] made life better. It not only got people fed, it freed them up to do many more things — to create art and invent things.”

unremarkable. Information has become similarly abundant, rendering the term unsatisfyingly generic. And after 20 years, the

important are the connections between the people and the machines.

The internet is not what I thought it was 20 years ago. It’s not a utopian world. It’s essentially like a lot of other major technological revolutions that have taken place in the history of the world.

“There are hardware connections, then there are all these interactions involved with data and software,” Williams says. “And if you look at any big internet thing, you see it’s basically a big hive of connections. A Follow is a connection. A Like is a connection.

“What the internet is doing now is connecting everyone and everything, every event and every thought, in multiple ways — layer upon layer of connection. Increasingly, everything that happens and everything we do, everyplace you go and check in, every thought you have and share, and every person who liked that thought… is all connected…and it keeps multiplying relentlessly.”

3:40 PM Sep 21st from XOXO Conference in Portland, Oregon

Evan Williams @ev

These connections aren’t just proliferating, he said. They’re proliferating in a particular direction. There’s an organizing principle that explains what thrives on the internet and could potentially predict what will thrive in the future: Convenience.

The rub is that we often take convenience too far. “Look at the technology of agriculture taken to an extreme — where we have industrialized farms that are not good for the environment or animals or nourishment,” he says. “Look at a country full of people who have had such convenient access to calories that they’re addicted, obese, and sick.” He likens this agricultural nightmare to our unhealthy obsession with internet numbers like retweets and likes and followers and friends.

“The internet makes human desires more easily attainable. In other words, it offers convenience,” he said. “Convenience on the internet is basically achieved by two things: speed, and cognitive ease.” In other words, people don’t want to wait, and they don’t want to think — and the internet should respond to that. “If you study what the really big things on the internet are, you realize they are masters at making things fast and not making people think.”

That warning wasn’t so much a slam on Twitter, which Williams helped create, as it was an observation about human nature. People will be people. The internet wants to give them exactly what they’re looking for.

And people who understand how to channel that tendency will be disproportionately powerful.

Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Apple were all excellent at delivering this sort of convenience, Williams said. They often got there by removing steps from what had once been a more complex

WRITTEN BY RYAN TATE / PHOTOS BY ANDREW WHITE, WIRED & GETTY IMAGES

big invention, Blogger, to dominate how people put new content on

25

WIRED MAGAZINE / SEPTEMBER 2013

WIRED MAGAZINE / SEPTEMBER 2013

25

the web. Instead of creating a new document, saving it, manually uploading it, and viewing it in a web browser, people could simply type their content into a web form and click “publish.”

The key to making a fortune online, Williams told the XOXO crowd, is to remove extra steps from common activities as he did with Blogger.

“Here’s the formula if you want to build a billion-dollar internet company,” he said. “Take a human desire, preferably one that has been around for a really long time…Identify that desire and use modern technology to take out steps.”

His recent example is Uber. “How old is the desire of getting from here to there?” he said. “How hard was it really to do? They took out some steps in that process…They formed a connection between you and the driver.”

Williams’ philosophy might seem pedestrian. But that’s the point.

Twenty years after people began using the web en masse, it’s time, Williams said, to accept that the internet isn’t a magical universe with boundless potential. It’s just another engine for improving quality of life.

“The internet is not what I thought it was 20 years ago,” Williams said. “It’s not a utopian world. It’s essentially like a lot of other major technological revolutions that have taken place in the history of the world.” He compares it to, well, agriculture. “[Agriculture] made life better. It not only got people fed, it freed them up to do many more things — to create art and invent things.”

THE KEY TO MAKING A FORTUNE

ONLINE IS TO REMOVE EXTRA STEPS

FROM COMMON ACTIVITIES

The internet is not what I thought it was 20 years ago. It’s not a utopian world. It’s essentially like a lot of other major technological revolutions that have taken place in the history of the world.

The rub is that we often take convenience too far. “Look at the technology of agriculture taken to an extreme — where we have industrialized farms that are not good for the environment or animals or nourishment,” he says. “Look at a country full of people who have had such convenient access to calories that they’re addicted, obese, and sick.” He likens this agricultural nightmare to our unhealthy obsession with internet numbers like retweets and likes and followers and friends.

That warning wasn’t so much a slam on Twitter, which Williams helped create, as it was an observation about human nature.

People will be people. The internet wants to give them exactly what they’re looking for. And people who understand how to channel that tendency will be disproportionately powerful.

WRITTEN BY RYAN TATE / PHOTOS BY ANDREW WHITE, WIRED & GETTY IMAGES

25

SYS T E M D E V E LO P M E N T PAGE 22

CONTINUING SPREAD FINAL DESIGN

REFINE YOUR STRONGEST CONCEPT INTO A FINAL CONTINUING SPREAD. Af ter coming up with dif ferent concepts, I chose to go with another very simple de sign but ef fective visually and functionally. This de sign goe s well with the first spread bec ause of the repeated elements –like the fonts, colors, and texture s – but also contrasts to the first spread in its overall lightne ss and some styling dif ference s.

On page 24 and 25 you will see the two spreads next to each other. Both of them took into account the middle gut ter (no text will be sucked into the gut ter), they kept a consistent subject mat ter, they visually suppor ted the content ef fectively, and provided a clear pace and sequencing of elements that would keep readers intere sted throughout.

We often think of the internet enables you to do new things. But people just want to do the same things they’ve always done.

“We often think of the internet enables you to do new things,” Williams said. “But people just want to do the same things they’ve always done.”

In 1994, Williams was a Nebraska college dropout selling tutorial videos to help people get onto the net. In those videos, he described the global computer network as “a puzzle comprised of three things: Computers, information, and people.” But he no longer sees it that way.

After leaving Twitter in 2011 and helping to incubate, among other things, the blog network Medium, Williams found himself rethinking his original formulation. Computers have proliferated and unremarkable. Information has become similarly abundant, rendering the term unsatisfyingly generic. And after 20 years, the

important are the connections between the people and the machines.

“There are hardware connections, then there are all these interactions involved with data and software,” Williams says. “And if you look at any big internet thing, you see it’s basically a big hive of connections. A Follow is a connection. A Like is a connection.

“What the internet is doing now is connecting everyone and everything, every event and every thought, in multiple ways — layer upon layer of connection. Increasingly, everything that happens and everything we do, everyplace you go and check in, every thought you have and share, and every person who liked that thought… is all connected…and it keeps multiplying relentlessly.”

These connections aren’t just proliferating, he said. They’re proliferating in a particular direction. There’s an organizing principle that explains what thrives on the internet and could potentially predict what will thrive in the future: Convenience.

“The internet makes human desires more easily attainable. In other words, it offers convenience,” he said. “Convenience on the internet is basically achieved by two things: speed, and cognitive ease.” In other words, people don’t want to wait, and they don’t want to think — and the internet should respond to that. “If you study what the really big things on the internet are, you realize they are masters at making things fast and not making people think.”

Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Apple were all excellent at delivering this sort of convenience, Williams said. They often got there by removing steps from what had once been a more complex

big invention, Blogger, to dominate how people put new content on the web. Instead of creating a new document, saving it, manually uploading it, and viewing it in a web browser, people could simply type their content into a web form and click “publish.”

The key to making a fortune online, Williams told the XOXO crowd, is to remove extra steps from common activities as he did with Blogger.

“Here’s the formula if you want to build a billion-dollar internet company,” he said. “Take a human desire, preferably one that has been around for a really long time…Identify that desire and use modern technology to take out steps.”

His recent example is Uber. “How old is the desire of getting from here to there?” he said. “How hard was it really to do? They took out some steps in that process…They formed a connection between you and the driver.”

Williams’ philosophy might seem pedestrian. But that’s the point.

Twenty years after people began using the web en masse, it’s time, Williams said, to accept that the internet isn’t a magical universe with boundless potential. It’s just another engine for improving quality of life.

“The internet is not what I thought it was 20 years ago,” Williams said. “It’s not a utopian world. It’s essentially like a lot of other major technological revolutions that have taken place in the history of the world.” He compares it to, well, agriculture. “[Agriculture] made life better. It not only got people fed, it freed them up to do many more things — to create art and invent things.”

THE KEY TO MAKING A FORTUNE

ONLINE IS TO REMOVE EXTRA STEPS

FROM COMMON ACTIVITIES

The internet is not what I thought it was 20 years ago. It’s not a utopian world. It’s essentially like a lot of other major technological revolutions that have taken place in the history of the world.

The rub is that we often take convenience too far. “Look at the technology of agriculture taken to an extreme — where we have industrialized farms that are not good for the environment or animals or nourishment,” he says. “Look at a country full of people who have had such convenient access to calories that they’re addicted, obese, and sick.” He likens this agricultural nightmare to our unhealthy obsession with internet numbers like retweets and likes and followers and friends.

That warning wasn’t so much a slam on Twitter, which Williams helped create, as it was an observation about human nature.

People will be people. The internet wants to give them exactly what they’re looking for. And people who understand how to channel that tendency will be disproportionately powerful.

WRITTEN BY RYAN TATE / PHOTOS BY ANDREW WHITE, WIRED & GETTY IMAGES

WIRED MAGAZINE / SEPTEMBER 2013

25

TWITTER FOUNDER REVEALS SECRET FORMULA GETTING

That’s what he told the gathered tech heads at the recent XOXO conference in Portland, Oregon, and while he may have said this with tongue partly in cheek, he spent the next 30 minutes unloading his interpretation formed after 20 years of hard thinking — to say nothing of his experience creating seminal internet companies Blogger and Twitter.

In his speech, Williams explained what the internet is, how it works, and how to get rich from it. Truth be told, Williams is not the best public speaker, but his message was clear: At a time when so many internet entrepreneurs are running around Silicon Valley trying to do something no one else has ever

online

something that’s tried and true — and to do it better. It’s a speech that should serve as a signpost, a bit of much-needed direction for the Valley’s younger generation.

The bottom line, Williams said, is that the internet is “a giant machine designed to give people what they want.” It’s not a utopia. It’s not magical. It’s simply an engine of convenience. Those who can tune that engine well — who solve basic human problems with greater speed and simplicity than those who came of basic human needs — who want to give people the next great idea — will have problems.

WIRED MAGAZINE / SEPTEMBER 2013

23

We often think of the internet enables you to do new things. But people just want to do the same things they’ve always done.

“We often think of the internet enables you to do new things,” Williams said. “But people just want to do the same things they’ve always done.”

In 1994, Williams was a Nebraska college dropout selling tutorial videos to help people get onto the net. In those videos, he described the global computer network as “a puzzle comprised of three things: Computers, information, and people.” But he no longer sees it that way.

After leaving Twitter in 2011 and helping to incubate, among other things, the blog network Medium, Williams found himself rethinking his original formulation. Computers have proliferated and unremarkable. Information has become similarly abundant, rendering the term unsatisfyingly generic. And after 20 years, the

important are the connections between the people and the machines.

“There are hardware connections, then there are all these interactions involved with data and software,” Williams says. “And if you look at any big internet thing, you see it’s basically a big hive of connections. A Follow is a connection. A Like is a connection.

“What the internet is doing now is connecting everyone and everything, every event and every thought, in multiple ways — layer upon layer of connection. Increasingly, everything that happens and everything we do, everyplace you go and check in, every thought you have and share, and every person who liked that thought… is all connected…and it keeps multiplying relentlessly.”

These connections aren’t just proliferating, he said. They’re proliferating in a particular direction. There’s an organizing principle that explains what thrives on the internet and could potentially predict what will thrive in the future: Convenience.

“The internet makes human desires more easily attainable. In other words, it offers convenience,” he said. “Convenience on the internet is basically achieved by two things: speed, and cognitive ease.” In other words, people don’t want to wait, and they don’t want to think — and the internet should respond to that. “If you study what the really big things on the internet are, you realize they are masters at making things fast and not making people think.”

Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Apple were all excellent at delivering this sort of convenience, Williams said. They often got there by removing steps from what had once been a more complex

big invention, Blogger, to dominate how people put new content on the web. Instead of creating a new document, saving it, manually uploading it, and viewing it in a web browser, people could simply type their content into a web form and click “publish.”

The key to making a fortune online, Williams told the XOXO crowd, is to remove extra steps from common activities as he did with Blogger.

“Here’s the formula if you want to build a billion-dollar internet company,” he said. “Take a human desire, preferably one that has been around for a really long time…Identify that desire and use modern technology to take out steps.”

His recent example is Uber. “How old is the desire of getting from here to there?” he said. “How hard was it really to do? They took out some steps in that process…They formed a connection between you and the driver.”

Williams’ philosophy might seem pedestrian. But that’s the point.

Twenty years after people began using the web en masse, it’s time, Williams said, to accept that the internet isn’t a magical universe with boundless potential. It’s just another engine for improving quality of life.

“The internet is not what I thought it was 20 years ago,” Williams said. “It’s not a utopian world. It’s essentially like a lot of other major technological revolutions that have taken place in the history of the world.” He compares it to, well, agriculture. “[Agriculture] made life better. It not only got people fed, it freed them up to do many more things — to create art and invent things.”

THE KEY TO MAKING A FORTUNE

ONLINE IS TO REMOVE EXTRA STEPS

FROM COMMON ACTIVITIES

The internet is not what I thought it was 20 years ago. It’s not a utopian world. It’s essentially like a lot of other major technological revolutions that have taken place in the history of the world.

The rub is that we often take convenience too far. “Look at the technology of agriculture taken to an extreme — where we have industrialized farms that are not good for the environment or animals or nourishment,” he says. “Look at a country full of people who have had such convenient access to calories that they’re addicted, obese, and sick.” He likens this agricultural nightmare to our unhealthy obsession with internet numbers like retweets and likes and followers and friends.

That warning wasn’t so much a slam on Twitter, which Williams helped create, as it was an observation about human nature.

People will be people. The internet wants to give them exactly what they’re looking for. And people who understand how to channel that tendency will be disproportionately powerful.

WRITTEN BY RYAN TATE / PHOTOS BY ANDREW WHITE, WIRED & GETTY IMAGES

WIRED MAGAZINE / SEPTEMBER 2013

25