On December 17th, Google Korea announced it will provide free WiFi at almost every Starbucks in Korea, and I tried to use it yesterday. As you might know, Google has a market share of only 4 percent in Korea. So this promotion aims to increase its market share and lead Korean customers to iGoogle, which could be considered Google’s counterpart of Korean portals. After you successfully get an access to the network, you will be directed to the iGoogle page. You can also read the brochure explaining iGoogle at Starbucks.

However, to use the service, you need to verify your real name using the Korean Alien Registration number or the Foreigner number. The promotion brochure is co-written in English for foreigners, but actually they can’t use it.

In addition to that, yesterday, I couldn’t use the service on any other browser other than Internet Explorer. When I first opened a browser, I could see a very similar page on any browser like the below. On Internet Explorer, I could also see a checkbox saying ‘Set iGoogle as your homepage’.

However, when I clicked the ‘Access Free Internet’ button, there was no response on any browser except Internet Explorer. Even on Google Chrome, it’s not possible to get a response. The reason seemed to be a simple Javascript error.

Of course, it had been serviced properly on Google Chrome, and the problem seemed to be a temporal issue while modifying the page. It might be my own problem. But why this sort of things happen? Might the modified page be tested only on Internet Explorer? I hope not. But if there are pages developed like this, it’s still hard for Korean people to get rid of Internet Explorer. To save the developer, the developer must also try to survive by herself.

Suppose all the information stored on computers everywhere were linked, I thought. Suppose I could program my computer to create a space in which anything could be linked to anything.

For a long time, actually many people have tried to transform information to knowledge through technical innovation, like the desire to fly. Now we finally have the space called “Web”.

It’s been almost 17 years since the Web became known in 1991. We need a lot more days to achieve what we’ve dreamed of, but we can see many changes. I guess when we have the “Web” that Tim Berners-Lee and other pioneers dreamed of is not that far from now.

Looking at the future of the Web that Tim Berners-Lee thought of in 1997, it looks like everything has progressed according to the plan. Since the beginning, we’ve wanted to make the Web a space in which anything can be linked to anything else, anyone can make a link, and a space we build together. Now we’re close to that dream in the name of “Web 2.0″. Not only documents but data are now roaming around the Web. The problem of trust is becoming a more important issue. More and more devices are being connected to the Web in the name of ubiquitous or mobile. Contrary to W3C’s wish, the Web could possibly be approaching to its full potential by itself. After all, the goal of the Web “Leading the Web to Its Full Potential” will be achieved by the people using it.

From now on, I’ll try to talk about the Web and its way toward its full potential on this blog. Since I haven’t wrote a post for a long time, it doesn’t seem so easy to restart blogging. But, I’ll try to keep this blog up. I hope this blog will go on for a long time and be worth reading. Stay tuned!