Dot-com
Internet history during the dot-com era, from the 1990s through to the first few years of the 2000s.
Note: some of these articles were migrated from my previous website, Web Development History (WDH), which was active during 2021. Check the timeline for a chronological list of WDH posts.
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Duran Duran and the Dawn of Digital Music Sales in 1997
In July 1997, N2K and Liquid Audio announced a way to sell digital songs online for 99 cents a pop. Soon after, Duran Duran became the first major label artist to release an online single for sale.
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What the Internet Was Like in 1996
In 1996, the internet became an integral part of society. Web portals were all the rage, e-commerce matured, web designers got new tools (like CSS and Flash), and web applications began to appear.
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Telling Lies: Bowie and Online Music Distribution in 1996
Online music retail was thriving by 1996, thanks to sites like Music Boulevard and CDnow. But music downloads and streaming was more of a challenge — as David Bowie discovered in September 1996.
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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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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.
