Final answer:
Tim Berners-Lee designed the World Wide Web to facilitate open and free access to information, deliberately moving away from models like AOL's paid subscriptions. His introduction of HTML, URI, and HTTP was foundational to the development of an interconnected digital landscape that prioritized knowledge dissemination over profit.
Step-by-step explanation:
The World Wide Web, conceived by Tim Berners-Lee, is a pivotal invention that revolutionized how information is accessed and shared globally. Berners-Lee, while working at CERN, introduced key technologies such as HTML, URI (URL), and HTTP. The cornerstone of his vision was to facilitate open and free access to information, aiming to create a space where knowledge could be widely disseminated without the restrictions of a paid subscription model for web browsing. This altruistic approach to the web's framework laid the groundwork for the vast, interconnected digital landscape we navigate today.
Despite the commercial nature of early online service providers like AOL, CERN's decision to make these foundational protocols freely available allowed for the rapid expansion of the internet. Netscape Navigator, an early browser developed by Marc Andreessen, followed this ethos by offering its services for free to non-commercial users, further enabling widespread access to the web. However, the browser wars and commercial interests, as seen with Microsoft's Internet Explorer, indicated the mounting competition and commercialization that would shape the future of web browsing.