Richard MacManus4d ago
To date, I don't think we've ever seen something on the internet as destructive to the cultural industries as Napster was in 1999 (although AI is threatening that now!). By coincidence, 1999 was when David Bowie became the first major artist to sell an album online as a digital download. The two storylines — Napster and Bowie's Hours — became entwined in intriguing ways. https://cybercultural.com/p/napster-1999/ #InternetHistory #Napster #Bowie
The Emergence of Napster and P2P File Sharing in 1999

Napster launched in May 1999 and soon there were millions of pirated songs online. Not even David Bowie, who released an album via digital download that year, could foresee Napster's future influence.

Cybercultural
AwesomeCastAug 13

🚨 AOL is finally shutting down dial-up internet.
Remember bonding 56K modems for “blazing” 128K?
Cutting your connection when someone called the house?

It was a different internet back then. 🧵
🎥 Watch the full episode:
https://www.sorgatronmedia.com/blog/awesomecast-745-ford-bets-big-hello-kitty-bricks-in-and-gpt-5-takes-over-your-terminal
#AOL #DialUp #InternetHistory #TechNostalgia #AwesomeCast @sorgatron @profpod

The Internet is CrackAug 13

AOL Retires Dial-Up After 34 Years

#AOL #DialUp #TechNews #InternetHistory #podcast

nemo™ 🇺🇦Aug 12
Nach 34 Jahren sagt AOL Bye 👋 zum legendären Modem- & ISDN-Einwahl-Internet! Das Ende einer Retro-Ära mit dem berühmten „Running Man“ und den typischen Einwahl-Geräuschen steht am 30.09.2025 bevor. #AOL #InternetHistory #Modem 📟💿🔊 Mehr: https://www.n-tv.de/technik/AOL-beendet-Internet-Einwahl-ueber-Modem-und-ISDN-article25957956.html
Was war das nochmal?: AOL beendet Internet-Einwahl über Modem und ISDN

Eigentlich ist es nur eine Randnotiz, dass AOL ab Ende September keine Internetverbindungen mehr über das analoge Telefonnetz per Modem und ISDN zur Verfügung stellt. Viele erinnern sich aber noch an die legendären Geräusche bei der Einwahl, andere möchten vielleicht wissen, was das überhaupt war.

n-tv NACHRICHTEN
Richard MacManusAug 12
After seeing the movie 'The Matrix', Philip Rosedale started a dot-com company in 1999 and attempted to build a full-body virtual reality rig. He soon pivoted to creating a virtual world on the Web. cybercultural.com/p/second-lif... #InternetHistory #Metaverse #TheMatrix

Second Life and the Beginnings...
Second Life and the Beginnings of the Metaverse in 1999

After seeing the movie 'The Matrix', Philip Rosedale started a dot-com company and attempted to build a full-body virtual reality rig. He soon pivoted to creating a virtual world on the Web.

Cybercultural
Richard MacManusAug 12
After seeing the movie 'The Matrix', Philip Rosedale started a dot-com company in 1999 and attempted to build a full-body virtual reality rig. He soon pivoted to creating a virtual world on the Web. To this day, he's still come closer to creating the metaverse than Mark Zuckerberg ever will... https://cybercultural.com/p/second-life-metaverse-1999/ #InternetHistory #Metaverse #TheMatrix
Second Life and the Beginnings of the Metaverse in 1999

After seeing the movie 'The Matrix', Philip Rosedale started a dot-com company and attempted to build a full-body virtual reality rig. He soon pivoted to creating a virtual world on the Web.

Cybercultural
Ars Technica NewsAug 11
AOL announces September shutdown for dial-up Internet after 34 years https://arstechni.ca/sJL8 #Internetserviceproviders #internetinfrastructure #telecommunications #satelliteInternet #dial-upinternet #internethistory #Internetaccess #digitaldivide #ruralinternet #aoldialup #broadband #retrotech #dial-up #modems #BBSes #modem #yahoo #Tech #AOL #DSL
AOL announces September shutdown for dial-up Internet access

Around 175,000 households still use dial-up Internet in the US.

Ars Technica
PCAug 11

The end is near!

#AOL #DialUp #InternetHistory

https://archive.ph/VHMJl

ResearchBuzz: FirehoseAug 11

Tom’s Hardware: AOL will end dial-up internet service in September, 34 years after its debut — AOL Shield Browser and AOL Dialer software will be shuttered on the same day. “AOL, now a Yahoo! property, will end its dial-up internet service, the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN)-based internet connectivity service, on September 30, 2025. Its dial-up service has been publicly available […]

https://rbfirehose.com/2025/08/11/toms-hardware-aol-will-end-dial-up-internet-service-in-september-34-years-after-its-debut-aol-shield-browser-and-aol-dialer-software-will-be-shuttered-on-the-same-day/

Tom’s Hardware: AOL will end dial-up internet service in September, 34 years after its debut — AOL Shield Browser and AOL Dialer software will be shuttered on the same day | ResearchBuzz: Firehose

ResearchBuzz: Firehose | Individual posts from ResearchBuzz
Jake in the desertAug 10

"No Web phenomenon is more confounding than blogging. Everything media experts knew about audiences – and they knew a lot – confirmed the focus group belief that audiences would never get off their butts and start making their own entertainment.

What a shock, then, to witness the near-instantaneous rise of 50 million blogs, with a new one appearing every two seconds."

Great piece by @Jayhoffmann, 'We Are Still the Web': https://thehistoryoftheweb.com/we-are-still-the-web

#blogs #blogging #WebHistory #InternetHistory

We Are Still the Web - The History of the Web

Twenty years ago, Kevin Kelly wrote an absolutely seminal piece for Wired. This week is a great opportunity to look back at it.

The History of the Web