According to this morning’s news, Tim Berners-Lee is to be knighted for his pioneering work developing the web. I’m not usually too interested in the Queen’s Honours List – more often than not it seems to salute people who are doing well in highly visible jobs. Film directors, for example, are often listed and whilst they might be good at their jobs it’s the nature of their job that’s getting them noticed. There’s plenty of excellent cabbies out there, too.

What I like about TBL being knighted is that he (and the folks he worked alongside at the time) wasn’t just doing his job. They were truly innovating and breaking new ground. Their work has changed the way modern business does business, how ordinary people spend their leisure time, and has transformed the lives of a lot of people who now earn a living solely from the web. Without these guys doing what they did, and continuing to do so, I think I’d probably be an out-of-work sound engineer somewhere. So well done TBL, Sir.