The web is a machine. The machine is us.

I just watched a fab film about the web via Euan Semple, a blogger I've met once and followed since and who is an example of the sort of person I didn't know existed before the dawn of the web and couldn't have remained connected to until web 2.0 and social media came along.
In terms of credentials one of Euan's testimonials is from a authors of Cluetrain Manifesto, which is a seminal book about the way the web is changing the rules for business, marketing and just about everything else. You may find the film a bit techie but I hope you watch it to the end because it's message is that the real power of the web is down to us, the human beings, not the machines.