The industrial portion ceremony started with Isambard Kingdom Brunel, while the modern portion of the ceremony finished with Tim Berners-Lee. I definitely think that Danny Boyle was drawing a parallel between the two people, and it will be interesting to see if history does the same.
I do not see much of a parallel between the two. Brunel is known for zillions of physical objects, built over decades; TBL is known for only one thing, created in less than two years (probably not as his main project, I guess)
Also, Brunel must have been quite an organizer to get done what he got done; TBL created the web almost alone.
The parallel is their fame. Brunel didn't build the industrial world on his own any-more than TBL built the interweb on his own. Its just good to have heroes.
