During my trip to SXSW in March 2011, I catch up with a couple of ReadWriteWeb writers — one of them quite angry. Then when I get back home, I start thinking about big changes to our company. I was having a crisis of confidence and wanted to transition out of the CEO role, so that I could focus fully on editorial. https://cybercultural.com/p/058-readwriteweb-ceo-dilemma/ #InternetHistory #Web20
You may not be familiar with the name Alice Mary Hilton, but I'd argue she's just as significant as Marshall McLuhan in the history of cyberculture theory. In fact, she invented the word "cyberculture"! What's more, her 1960s focus on the practical impacts of computer automation on society is more important than ever in 2025, with the rise of AI. I'm quite proud of this post, so I hope you click through to learn more about this super-smart lady. https://cybercultural.com/p/cyberculture-alice-mary-hilton/ #InternetHistory
On my latest trip to New York City, in May 2010, Sean and I attend Creative Week to scope out the venue for ReadWriteWeb's next event, we meet VC Fred Wilson, and visit the New York Times skyscraper. (part 050 of my Web 2.0 memoir) https://cybercultural.com/p/meeting-new-york-times-may2010/ #InternetHistory
I wrote in a previous post that 2012 was the year that Web 2.0 quietly died...but it was also when a new kind of internet was born: a more mobile and visual one, with images and videos leading the way. Take a trip with me back to 2012, when YouTube "creators" started to be more popular than mere bloggers, when Facebook acquired Instagram, when Pinterest was a fast-growing social network, and when "picture subreddits" were all the rage. https://cybercultural.com/p/internet-2012/ #InternetHistory
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. https://cybercultural.com/p/internet-1994/ #InternetHistory #Netscape
After a travel hiatus, Cybercultural is back with another sack of internet memories from the 1990s -> 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. https://cybercultural.com/p/online-music-distribution-1996/ #InternetHistory #OnlineMusic #1990s #BowieForever
In this instalment of 'Bubble Blog', my Web 2.0 memoir: It's mid-2011 and our writer woes are not getting better. It’s impacting page view numbers and social media referral traffic is also a concern. It prompts me to decide on a drastic strategy shift for ReadWriteWeb. https://cybercultural.com/p/059-editorial-pivot/ #InternetHistory #Web20
Team ReadWriteWeb attends SXSW 2011 in Austin. We host a BBQ for our sponsors, I meet Sarah and Seamus for the first time, and the RWW management team addresses writer concerns. (part 057 of my Web 2.0 memoir) https://cybercultural.com/p/057-sxsw-2011/ #InternetHistory #Web20 #Serialization
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. As well as these 3 films, I look back at William Gibson's now extinct mid-90s website, "William Gibson’s Yardshow", and the equally lost to time Johnny Mnemonic net.hunt, an online scavenger hunt. https://cybercultural.com/p/cyberspace-movies-1995/ #InternetHistory #90smovies
This week's #InternetHistory post on Cybercultural was an excuse to revisit my favourite boyhood band, Duran Duran. Back in 1997, they became the first major label artist to offer an online single for sale. This was a couple of years before Napster and more than 5 years before the iTunes Store! It was all thanks to a couple of now mostly forgotten companies: N2K and Liquid Audio. Full story: https://cybercultural.com/p/digital-music-sales-1997/ #DuranDuran #90s
Remember when we all thought HTML5 websites were the future of mobile? It's May 2010 and ReadWriteWeb holds its second Silicon Valley unconference, this time about the mobile internet. One of our presenters shows off their HTML5 website called Burbn, but shortly after pivots to an iOS app called Instagram. The rest, as they say, is history. https://cybercultural.com/p/049-rww-mobile-summit-may2010/ #InternetHistory #MobileInternet #HTML5
I’m thrilled to announce that my book, Bubble Blog: From Outsider to Insider in Silicon Valley's Web 2.0 Revolution, is now available to purchase as a paperback or eBook. More details, along with links to order your copy: https://cybercultural.com/p/book-release-bubbleblog/ #InternetHistory #bookstodon
Back in 1997, the browser plugin RealPlayer became synonymous with "buffering" — which for 90s web users meant constant, annoying delays in streaming a video online (usually over dial-up). Funnily enough though, the buffering epidemic didn't dampen the HYPE for online video streaming that year. Wired magazine even declared that RealVideo was leading a “war with TV.” And you thought AI hype was bad... https://cybercultural.com/p/video-streaming-1997/ #InternetHistory #VideoStreaming
In this week's Cybercultural post, I look back on Tumblr in 2012. In particular, I explore how the gifset — a collection of animated gifs — came to epitomize Tumblr's quirky appeal and helped redefine blogging. (note: I fired up my YouTube a/c for this post, recording 4 video screencasts to illustrate some beautiful 2012 gifsets) https://cybercultural.com/p/tumblr-2012/ #InternetHistory #Tumblr #gifsets
I look back on the 3 musketeers of web design in the 1990s: Jeffrey Zeldman, David Siegel, and Jakob Nielsen. Each had a distinct web design philosophy (and if you read till the end, you'll discover which one I believe 'won' in the long term). I focus in particular on 1997, which is when Flash and CSS emerged. But I also look back on the careers of the 3 gurus from our 2025 perspective. https://cybercultural.com/p/web-design-1997/ #InternetHistory #WebDesign
It's June 2010: I take another long series of flights to New York City for ReadWriteWeb's latest 'real-time web' event. Before that, I chat with Twitter's Dick Costolo and get interviewed by ABC News Radio about filter bubbles and the zombie apocalypse. https://cybercultural.com/p/051-realtimeweb-summit-nyc-2010/ #InternetHistory
🧶 La Nostra Rete in tour! 🇮🇹
(English version in the following post)
Da domani partirà il fantasmagorico imperdibile tour de La Nostra Rete, che porterà il workshop in giro per l’Italia! ⛵
Se sarete nei luoghi in cui si terrà il laboratorio siete assolutamente invitatз, 🆓 l’ingresso è libero e gratuito. Se non foste nei paraggi, condividete appppalla con amicз tecnoscetticз, tecnoinnamoratз, tecnoasceticз, tecnorepellenti o tecnoindifferenti. Sono tuttз benvenutз 💕
Grazie alle persone stratopiche che mi ospiteranno! @collettivodemand @reclaimthetech
✨ Nota speciale: mentre sarò a Bologna, ci stiamo organizzando per trovarci di persona e partecipare collettivamente al @fediforum, tuttз insieme da Scift, la nuova officina che aprirà domani a Làbas!
ℹ️ Per info aggiornate, visitate https://ournet.rocks/it/
#LaNostraRete #LaNostraReteTour #OurNetTour #Milano #FaLaCosaGiusta #Napoli #Roma #Velletri #Làbas #UrbanArtLab #Bologna #Bolo #Verona #KnittingOurInternet #Internet #InternetHistory #Web #DWeb #Zero81 #Fediverse #decentralization #decentralizzazione #Demand #laboratorio #lab
In June 2010, I make my first trip to Portland, Oregon, where many of our ReadWriteWeb crew live. On a coworking day at a local cafe, I negotiate a tricky staff problem and also get to know the team better. (Note: this post is dedicated to ex-RWWer Curt Hopkins, who sadly passed away in February this year at age 60) https://cybercultural.com/p/052-ricmac-in-portland-2010/ #InternetHistory #Web20
It's a new year of Cybercultural, your favourite #InternetHistory indie website. This year I'll be focusing more on the dot-com era (1990s) and the terrible 2010s. You can expect 1 post per week going forward — subscribe for free via email or RSS.
Ok, onto this week's post: Multimedia Gulch in 1994, when CD-ROM designers lived fast in a time of slow modems! https://cybercultural.com/p/multimedia-gulch-1994/ #Multimedia #Dotcom
I finish up my big 2010 US trip with my first experience of O’Reilly Media’s Foo Camp — and my introvert batteries are severely tested. Before that, a future astronaut takes me to Singularity University. (part 53 of my Web 2.0 memoir, being serialized on Cybercultural) https://cybercultural.com/p/053-foo-camp-2010-singularity-uni/ #InternetHistory #2010 #Introvert
I see @theverge is running a '2004 week'. If I may be that little bird riding on the elephant's back, I have several 2004 posts on my Internet History site Cybercultural if you're interested in that era:
- What the Internet Was Like in 2004: https://cybercultural.com/p/internet-2004/
- The First Web 2.0 Conference in 2004: https://cybercultural.com/p/003-the-first-web-20-conference-2004/
...and a few more on my '2004' tag page: https://cybercultural.com/tags/2004/
#InternetHistory #2004
Take a trip with me back to social media in 2010, when the likes of Facebook, Twitter, Digg and StumbleUpon were SENDING TRAFFIC to websites (I know, hard to believe, right? People actually used to click on links!) Friends, it was a halcyon time for tech blogs and other indie publications. https://cybercultural.com/p/054-social-media-2010/ #InternetHistory #SocialMediaHistory
Remember those "best experienced with [browser name]" badges?
"MTV's revamped World Wide Web site for MTV contains a heavy amount of original music content and a unique Web browser design. [...] Some of the site's best content, including a grossly appealing game with Beavis & Butt-head, is designed exclusively for Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser."
https://cybercultural.com/p/browser-war-1990s/
#internet #TheWeb #InternetHistory #technology #cyberculture
David Bowie, Prince and Peter Gabriel all had interactive CD-ROMs out in 1994, and had plans for further multimedia projects. But by the end of the year, the CD-ROM format was effectively over. And let's not forget Cybermania '94, the Oscars of multimedia! https://cybercultural.com/p/cd-roms-1994/ #InternetHistory #Bowie #Prince
As we continue to grow ReadWriteWeb over the second half of 2010, I struggle with our inability to hire US writers full-time because it’s a non-US company. This creates unease amongst our bloggers. https://cybercultural.com/p/055-rww-expansion-2010/ (part 055 of my serialized Web 2.0 memoir) #InternetHistory #Serialization
