By:
December 16, 2004
Previous: 1991 / Next: 1993
Intro and links to the other years in the timeline

TECHNOLOGY

  • Jan. 1992 — The Internet Society, an international organization for coordination of the Internet, is founded.
  • Jan. 12, 1992 — The fictional HAL 9000 computer becomes operational at the H.A.L. plant in Urbana, Illinois. (The movie 2001: A Space Odyssey says that HAL was created in 1992, but the book writes that it was in 1997.)
  • The U.S. Senate approves a program to fund the National Research and Education Network (NREN).
  • March 8, 1992 — A computer virus called Michelangelo threatens to damage computers around the world.
  • “The Little Virus That Didn’t:
    The press couldn’t get enough of Michelangelo. But did it fall prey or save the day?” AJR, May 1992.
  • An early ebook called the Sony Bookman is introduced. (See also:
    “Now the Plot Thickens: Digital reading? What the Dickens is that?” Stuart Whitmore, AsiaWeek.com, Nov. 6. 1998.)
  • There are 65 million personal computers in offices and homes.
    (Source: InfoCulture: The Smithsonian Book)
  • Dec. 1992 — A mobile phone in the United Kingdom receives one of the first SMS messages. The text message was sent from a computer on the UK’s Vodafone GSM network.

THE MEDIA

  • “Reinventing the Media.”
    CJR, March/April 1992.
  • “Plugging Into Cyberspace.”
    CJR, May/June 1992.
  • News Example:
    Aug. 24, 1992 —
    Hurricane Andrew.
    (Stories available from
    database vendor services.)
  • “What Are We So Afraid Of?”
    Roger Fidler, AJR, Oct. 1992
  • Dec. 1992 — It is announced that the Delphi dial-up service is offering full access to the Internet. Delphi is one of the first to provide the general public with easy-to-use, text-only access to the Internet.
  • A few examples of new media sites launched during 1992:
    (Source: E&P and Alexa)

Statistics
  • The America Online dial-up service has 200,000 subscribers. (Source: AOL)
  • There are 150 newspapers that offer full-text database versions of their stories through vendors such as Nexis, Vu/Text, Dialog, or DataTimes.
    (Source: News Media Libraries: A Management Handbook)
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