Keynote: In a place far far away...

by James Duncan Davidson

In the Rails Conf 2013 Keynote, speaker James Duncan Davidson explores the intersection of technology and creativity through his experiences and travels. The main theme revolves around the idea of connectivity and how technology enables diverse cultures and communities to interact and express themselves across the globe.

Key points discussed include:
- Personal Experiences: Davidson shares anecdotes about his travels, including a visit to Tunisia, where he reflects on the significance of the movie set of Mos Eisley from Star Wars, tying it to the local culture and economy that includes smuggling and connectivity despite poverty.
- Comparative Insights: He contrasts his experiences in Tunisia with Cuba, noting how technology, particularly the internet, plays a critical role in shaping modern societies even in places with restrictive regimes. He discusses the preparation of Cuban youth to embrace digital connectivity once restrictions lessen.
- Historical Context: Davidson highlights the importance of the 20th anniversary of the World Wide Web, reminiscing about the early days of the internet and how it has evolved beyond simple static pages to complex, interactive mediums.
- Technological Evolution: He discusses the transition from initial web constructs (like CGI scripting) to more advanced frameworks (such as Ruby on Rails) and cloud technologies (AWS, CDNs), emphasizing how they have democratized access to resources for developers, enabling creativity and innovation.
- Social Impact: Davidson draws connections between technology and societal changes, illustrating how platforms like Twitter were pivotal during the Arab Spring, showcasing the power of technology to drive social movements.
- Value Creation: He ends with a call to action for developers and creators to focus on creating value for the world rather than merely for profit, resonating with Tim O'Reilly’s idea of creating more value than captured.

In conclusion, Davidson's keynote inspires attendees to leverage technological advancements for social good, encouraging a mindset that values connectivity and creativity on a global scale, reflecting on how technology can be an enabler of meaningful change in society.

00:00:12.259 Thank you.

00:00:16.039 So, Chicago! That's awesome! I was just stuck there yesterday. I could have just stayed another year, and that would have been a nice shortcut.

00:00:25.640 But anyway, before I was stuck in Chicago, I was a long, long way from here.

00:00:29.460 I was actually standing in the middle of Mos Eisley, or however you pronounce it—it's been too long since I've seen the film. I was amongst condensers and old buildings, and interestingly enough, it was raining when I was standing there with my friends.

00:00:36.600 But this was Star Wars; this was the set for Mos Eisley. And of course, if you go into the buildings, you can see that it's a fictitious set. There's nothing more to the buildings behind the Cantina, just some sad structures, because they actually built the Cantina in London.

00:01:01.559 The reason I was in Tunisia is because of this photography thing I do. There's a direct connection between people who work in technology and those who get involved in very creative endeavors. For me, that’s photography. I've noticed DHH has been doing a lot of photography as well as his race car driving. Others, like Chad Fowler, are into playing instruments. For me, it’s been photography, and I've springboarded this into a life of conference photography.

00:01:16.560 I’ve been doing rally and conference photography for TED, leveraging all the connections I've made from there to end up in interesting places like Tunisia, where the Star Wars set is located. Tunisia is a very intriguing place. It's a lot like what was said; it's big, open, and barren. It's also the site of various smuggling operations, which they call contraband because they don't use the term 'smuggle.' Apparently, many people take their trucks to Algeria, pick up gasoline, and bring it back to Tunisia to sell it on the roadside.

00:01:50.880 I'm not quite sure if they're paying for the gasoline in Algeria or if they have a friend at the plant filling big containers with it and bringing them back. It's all very hush-hush or not spoken about, but it mirrors the economy you would find in Mos Eisley in Star Wars, which seems strangely fitting.

00:02:36.600 You can talk to these guys, but of course, I could only talk to a few because I don’t know a combination of the French and Arabic they speak. Luckily, I was with some people who do. Other smuggling operations include exchanging currency—there are places that sell vast amounts of gas and fuel at cut-rate prices, and they will also exchange any currency into any other currency.

00:03:03.420 They’ll help you get cigarettes, and do all the things you might expect from a smuggling or black market economy. This includes getting money with the faces of deposed dictators on them, such as some of the currency from Libya, right across the border from where we're standing. You can see that people have gone through and voted with scissors to express their political statements. They’re trying to get these bills out of circulation and don’t want to see Gaddafi’s face anymore—the new bills are available, but those are still out there.

00:03:38.760 Interestingly, as much as Tunisia is on the margins, it is also very connected. People have cell phones; people have 3G access in many places. You can get it way out in the wild, although it may not be available everywhere, a lot of places have people online and that’s fascinating.

00:04:14.220 Before I was in Tunisia, I was in Cuba. Cuba is one of the last places on earth getting connected and online. Anyone who knows the history of Cuba knows about the Castro revolution and the embargo. They've been effectively isolated, and you can see the evidence of this when you go there. It’s not just stepping back in time; it’s more like stepping back in time and observing how people have lived in this place over 60 years, trying to maintain things as best they can.

00:04:40.380 Everything has this unique feel and patina. People have been living as best they can, even with the U.S. embargo and the collapse of the Soviet Union, which has made things hard. Though they continue to manage, it is still a very vibrant place.

00:05:06.060 We found ourselves in the top ballet academy of Cuba, where they tour all over the world. The kids are seriously honing their craft. What struck me wasn’t just that ballet was happening in an old dilapidated place, but rather a scene that plays out frequently all around the world.

00:05:47.400 Even though there is no such thing as open internet in Cuba, and GPRS can only give access to a sanctioned network, we saw so many iPhones that it was unbelievable. People had Android handsets too, but the prevalence of iPhones was remarkable. Even without being online, they make the best of their phones—they’re ready for when the internet does come because they know what they’re missing out on.

00:06:16.740 I found this a stark reminder: the World Wide Web starts with the word 'world.' It’s not just about high-connectivity places or what we do online in the States. It’s meant to connect everyone around the world, and it really should be about that global connection.

00:06:52.920 Twenty years ago, when the World Wide Web started, how many of you heard the announcement yesterday about the 20th anniversary? It was literally yesterday. I remember when this page went up while I was in college, which probably makes me an old man here now. At 43, I guess I’m the geezer coming in saying, 'Well, back in my day, the web was kind of like Gopher.'

00:07:22.200 The early web pages were rudimentary, and I remember playing with them, wondering what would really happen with it. As I transitioned from architecture to working with websites, I got involved in creating pages and became fascinated.

00:07:39.600 The first commercial site I worked on was for hilton.com, and it was where you could check if you could get a hotel room at any of their properties. This was all done using a quirky version of Perl that was compiled to talk to Oracle, and let me tell you—it was challenging!

00:08:09.300 Over the years, things improved as we found ways to create online experiences and build websites. We went from static pages to more complex, dynamic models. Back then, it was tough. If you wanted something active on your site, you had to put executable scripts in a CGI bin.

00:08:35.400 Things evolved with technologies like PHP, ColdFusion, and Python appearing on the scene. It allowed developers to create and deploy sites with ease, leading to what we recognize today as the modern web.

00:09:08.760 In looking back, we had this notion that websites were all composed as a single unit. You’d deploy everything in one big wad; whether it was at your server or maybe a small fleet of servers. As development continued, the architecture changed. I moved on to working at Sun, where we started discussing web servers and how deployments worked.

00:09:48.480 Deploying war files meant that instead of working with a single instance, we theorized we could package everything as one big bundle. This thought process continued for years; even Ruby on Rails saw a similar approach. You’d build everything together and deploy it in one package.

00:10:30.060 Over time, however, we began thinking of ways to split our architecture into smaller, maintainable pieces. Tools started emerging, enabling developers to reimagine how websites were built and deployed. Now we see a lot of services that help us streamline this process.

00:10:55.560 Content delivery networks (CDNs) significantly transformed how we distribute and access content. Early in the evolution of CDNs, they allowed for quick media distribution, but then we discovered ways to define multiple origins. This means you could point different parts of your application at different endpoints.

00:11:40.320 For example, you could serve static content from an S3 bucket while keeping dynamic processes running from your primary servers. The power of cloud computing has changed the landscape dramatically, allowing us to leverage big industrialized resources efficiently.

00:12:12.960 Much like in 2001, when hardware was expensive and hard to get, we now have the capability to leverage cloud solutions like AWS to spin up virtual machines effortlessly. We can focus on building cool things without needing to worry about budget constraints for the hardware.

00:12:51.600 This fundamental shift allows us, as creators, to develop unique products and services. It doesn’t matter if you’re a small startup or a large enterprise; the tools are more available than ever, which makes it possible to create value from diverse sources.

00:13:34.200 It's crucial for us to understand that the world we are building upon is intrinsically connected. Our pieces interconnect across borders and cultures. Everything ties back to what we create at a larger scale.

00:14:14.040 As individuals involved in technology, we need to think deeply about how the services we offer today will affect the broader world tomorrow. Tools like Ruby on Rails lend themselves nicely to deploying versatile solutions that can accommodate a wide variety of needs.

00:15:02.040 As we consider this interconnected global landscape, it’s important to make choices that prioritize creating value over capturing it. The essence of our work should result in assets that build a better world rather than merely serving our individual interests.

00:15:52.680 As I look back on my journey from architecture to technology and now to photography, I constantly ponder my impact. I strive to find ways to create value in my creative practices while sustaining myself economically.

00:16:32.700 I encourage all of you to reflect on how you create meaningful solutions, even as you pursue profit. Each action reverberates across the globe, and it’s our collective responsibility to contribute positively.

00:17:45.960 As I conclude, I want to reiterate how we have so many tools to craft services that resonate worldwide. We live in an exciting age with capabilities that present both opportunities and challenges.

00:18:17.940 Thank you for being here, and let’s keep building things that connect the world.

00:18:36.480 Thank you.

RailsConf 2013