Once-dominant and much-loathed, IE turns 20
Internet Explorer, the buggy, disliked, yet once-dominant Web browser, this weekend reaches the 20th anniversary of its initial release. It’s an important occasion in Internet history that probably will go … Continue reading
Dilemma on the Merc’s front page: Lead with Netscape? Jerry Garcia death?
As a postscript to the recent coverage revisiting Netscape’s eye-popping IPO of August 1995, it’s worth recalling how the leading newspaper of Silicon Valley carried the news — and what … Continue reading
The ‘Netscape Moment,’ 20 years on
We’re in the runup to the 20th anniversary of the “Netscape Moment” of 1995, the day when a California startup’s eye-popping market debut illuminated the World Wide Web for millions … Continue reading
20 years after its launch, Amazon showing an unlikable side
Twenty years after it opened for business online, Amazon.com is showing a meaner side that has become pretty obvious. The world’s largest online retailer delivers an enormous variety of products … Continue reading
1995 as tipping point: Recalling Smith Corona’s bankruptcy
Even as 1995 unfolded, it became clear that the year would be regarded as a hinge moment, as an important transitory time near the end of the millennium. As I … Continue reading
‘Cyberporn’ scare of 1995 demonstrates the early Web’s corrective power
The demotion last month of Brian Williams, the former NBC News lead anchor, was testimony, at least in part, to the power of social media to expose and debunk. The … Continue reading
Microsoft warns Netscape in prelude to the ‘browser war’ of 1995-98
Before they were locked in a death struggle known as the “browser war,” the software giant Microsoft and Web upstart Netscape made nice, at least for a while. Representatives of … Continue reading
‘The Internet Tidal Wave,’ 20 years on
Twenty years ago this week, Bill Gates sent a lengthy internal memorandum to senior staff at Microsoft Corporation, announcing an embrace of the Internet that was to help shape the … Continue reading
Saluting the unassuming wiki, 20 years after its launch
The unassuming wiki, server-based software that allows users to create, revise, edit, update, and delete Web content, last week marked the 20th anniversary of its launch online, in what was … Continue reading
Talking Internet history, and 1995
I had the pleasure recently to be interviewed by the Internet History Podcast, an outstanding and expanding online resource based on the recognition that 1995 was a turning point in … Continue reading
The 1995 Blog 