By:
December 16, 2004
Previous: 1988 / Next: 1990
Intro and links to the other years in the timeline

TECHNOLOGY

  • The U.S. Department of Defense sponsored ARPANET computer network, which began as an experimental network of four computers in 1969, is decommissioned and replaced by the faster NSFNET network. (NSFNET will continue until 1995.)
  • Tim Berners-Lee writes his original proposal for the the World Wide Web.
  • Intel introduces its 486 microprocessor.
  • Nintendo releases its Game Boy handheld  game console.
  • The Corporation for Research and Education Networking (CREN) is started. It supports low-cost access to worldwide electronic networking. (The BITNET and CSNET networks helped develop CREN.)

THE MEDIA

  • Newspapers continue to experiment with audiotex technologies. Audiotex customers use their telephone to dial a local number, then enter a four-digit code for news, stock quotes, weather, sports, and other content.
  • The Source, an early online service designed for the general public, is purchased by CompuServe. The Source is soon discontinued. CompuServe is one of the largest dial-up systems for electronic bulletin board (BBS) access.
  • In 1989 an online service which was launched a year earlier by the Quantum company is renamed America Online. (The history of Steve Case’s AOL can be traced back to the beginning of the Quantum Computer Services company and an online service called Quantum Link.)
  • News Example:
    June 5, 1989 —
    “Beijing Death Toll at Least 300; Army Tightens Control of City But Angry Resistance Goes On“,
    New York Times.
    (Story available from
    database vendor services.)
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