I've been thinking about the internets (sic) and the commercial nature of it all. Despite the emphasis and perception of the internet as an interlocked series of commercial enterprise sites and services, it remains a massive individual-driven project.

I know that I'm biased but I can't help but think about the individuals and groups who provide information and content without any commercial motivation. Oh, yes, there are many trying to make money off their content but this is often a secondary effort to gain some recompense for their work, not as the primary motivation.

Of course, not all internet content is of value but still...

I've been working/collaborating on a Wiki-based project. In a while, the content of the Wiki will become a FAQ for a group I'm affiliated with. We may also publish it as a pamphlet. No one is being paid for their work and everything is on a volunteer basis. We saw a need for the FAQ, gathered together people who could contribute substantially to it and went at creating it.

Projects like the one I just described are part of the ad hoc nature of the internet. While commerce is the propulsion behind all sorts of things on the internet, there are still huge portions driven by individual contributions given freely.

Just a thought.