Bits, Bytes, and Broadbands

Sebesta and the Google Metrics give that oft-missing technical side in the perceptions of the world of design, for which I was glad to see it discussed in the material. Sebesta gives the history and underlying principle basics that for truly understanding how the internet works. It's not just mythical unicorn magic that we wave our cursor over the wireless settings and hope works; it's a structured system with rhyme and reason. The difference between the Internet and "the Web" becomes apparent when viewed in the context Sebesta gives, allowing for the concepts of last week's apps to fall more perfectly into place.

Viewing the metrics after reading Sebesta paints, to me, a complete picture. The web is pure code, it's all mathematical. It's rational, understandable, and it's made up of it's own little complex digital ecosystem. The beauty of the web and most modern technology I feel lies in this, and it's often taken for granted: that web design can be just as mathematical for these reasons as it is artistic. There's a certain completeness, an extra quality, in such a well rounded thing. It often goes unnoticed with the web, but much the same as we appreciate architecture and engineering for joining form and function, aesthetic and purpose; so too does the web.

The most exciting point in thinking this as I viewed the metrics page though, was just how much data existed on that page from sampling. It reminded me that because of the web's mathematical, informational nature, it continues to open new doors for the future of design. The fact that a metrics page even exists is a marvel of the web: the ability to obtain data purely because of it's end-of-day application with electric wires and mathematical formulas. The data mining capabilities of the web were proven simply by the Google Metrics sampling on data usage, and it made me appreciate that beautiful duality of the web all the more.