SERVICES & TECH
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March 1999 — The first Web syndication format to use the name “RSS” (Rich Site Summary) appears. - March 1999 — The Melissa computer virus spreads via e-mail attachments.
- “Tim Berners-Lee: From the thousands of interconnected threads of the Internet, he wove the World Wide Web and created a mass medium for the 21st century.” Time Magazine, March 29, 1999.
- The top ten wired cities in the U.S. are: San Francisco, Austin, Seattle, Washington, Boston, San Jose, San Diego, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Atlanta and Dallas-Fort Worth. (Source: Yahoo! Internet Life)
- Final Cut Pro, a non-linear editing system is introduced at a NAB meeting during 1999. (Final Cut Pro will later play a role in the development of multimedia production on the Web.)
- Craigslist, a centralized network of online communities featuring free classified advertisements and forums sorted by various topics, is incorporated. It was founded in 1995 by Craig Newmark.
- The U.S. Department of Commerce begins tracking Internet sales. They call e-commerce “a major indicator of the nation’s economic health.” In 1999 the four leading e-commerce brands are amazon.com, priceline.com, eBay and E-trade.
- “The Spam That Started It All.” Wired, April 13, 1999.
- June 1, 1999 — The original version of the Napster file sharing service is released by Shawn Fanning and Sean Parker.
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August 1999 — The blog publishing tool, Blogger, is launched by Pyra Labs. (In 2003 Pyra Labs is purchased by Google.) -
- “Internet Predecessor Turns 30.” CNN, Sept. 1999.
- “Divide and Conquer?: IPO Deliberations Prolong the Suspense.” Presstime, Dec. 1999.
- “The Digital Century:
We remember 100 computing events (crucial, improbable, or downright absurd) that changed our lives, opened our eyes, or made us smile.”
PC World, Dec. 1999. | | THE MEDIA - “The Internet audience is not only growing, it is getting decidedly mainstream. Two years ago, when just 23% of Americans were going online, stories about technology were the top news draw. Today, with 41% of adults using the Internet, the weather is the most popular online news attraction.”
(Source: “The Internet News Audience Goes Ordinary.”
Pew Research Center,
Jan. 1999.) - “Prodigy Legacy Lives On.”
New York Times, Jan. 1999. - “After the Hack: Questions Follow the Times Attack.” CJR, Jan./Feb. 1999.
- News Example:
April 20, 1999 —
“Columbine School Shooting.”
(Source:
Poynter’s Links to the News) - May 1999 — The Online News Association (ONA) is established and launches a website.
- “Fear.com: Newspapers are on the Web because they have to be, but they’re still trying to figure out what to do there.” Chip Brown, AJR, June 1999.
- News Example:
July 18, 1999 —
“JFK, Jr. Plane Crash.”
(Source:
Poynter’s Links to the News) - Oct. 1999 — Jim Romenesko’s popular website, “Mediagossip.com,” moves to Poynter Online with the new name “Romenesko’s Medianews.” (The name is changed to “Romenesko” in 2003.)
- News Example:
Dec. 31, 1999 —
“The Y2K Problem.”
(Source:
Poynter’s Links to the News) Awards Statistics - The number of radio stations that broadcast their signal on the Internet is more than 2,200. This number is up from 56 stations three years ago.
(Source: BRS Media) - The America Online dial-up service has 20,000,000 subscribers.
(Source: AOL) - “More than 950 North American daily newspapers have launched online services.”
“Worldwide, there are more than 2,800 daily, weekly and other newspapers online.”
(Source: NAA) - There are approximately 1,311 television stations with sites on the Internet or dial-up services.
(Source: Editor & Publisher) |
