Cybercultural chronicles internet history and its cultural impact, from the pre-web era to the dot-com boom, Web 2.0, and beyond. Written by pioneering tech blogger Richard MacManus.
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State of Online Music in 1996: RealAudio and Rocktroplis
Over 1996, the Web became an experimental testing ground for new ways of distributing and promoting music. RealAudio, Rocktropolis, Music Boulevard and IUMA were some of the leading sites.
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David Bowie’s Early Websites, 1995–1997: Outside to Earthling
During the mid-90s, David Bowie's website went from a storytelling structure for the Outside album, into a striking, grunge-inspired design for Earthling. At the same time, Bowie fan sites emerged.
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What the Internet Was Like in 1995
In 1995, Netscape went public and Microsoft noticed the internet — the browser wars began. Also that year, Amazon and eBay launched, JavaScript and PHP debuted, and the web went mainstream.
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My Web Values: Why I Quit X and Feed the Fediverse Instead
I stopped posting on Twitter, now known as X, in November 2023. X isn't open, it throttles distribution, and devalues links. Simply put, it doesn't align with my values as a supporter of the open web.
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Cyberculture 1960s-1990s and the Legacy of Alice Mary Hilton
The word 'cyberculture' was coined by Alice Mary Hilton in 1963 and by the mid-90s was in common use. But Hilton never got her due, especially compared to her contemporary Marshall McLuhan.
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Cyberspace Movies in 1995: Silicon Valley Meets Hollywood
Three Hollywood movies were released in 1995 with internet themes: the Keanu Reeves cyberpunk film Johnny Mnemonic (with an accompanying website), The Net with Sandra Bullock, and Hackers.
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GeoCities in 1995: Building a Home Page on the Internet
GeoCities, known throughout most of 1995 as Beverly Hills Internet, was one of the first commercial internet services to make it easy for people to publish a home page on the World Wide Web.
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What the Internet Was Like in 1994
In 1994, the World Wide Web became the default multimedia channel of the Internet. With the launch of Netscape Navigator and early websites like Yahoo! and HotWired, the Web achieved lift-off.
To explore Cybercultural's archive of internet history articles, you can browse by internet era:
- Pre-web (1960s-80s)
- Dot-com (1990-2003)
- Web 2.0 (2004-2012)
- Enshittocene (2013-2021)
You can also read yearly reviews or search for a topic of interest.