[9781] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
Answer to 'when Netcom got on the net'
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Daniel P Dern)
Fri Jan 21 08:15:41 1994
Date: Fri, 21 Jan 1994 08:14:03 -0500
From: ddern@world.std.com (Daniel P Dern)
To: com-priv@psi.com
Cc: bzs@world.std.com
One of the conveniences of writing about the Internet and being
(or soon, having been) editor of Internet World magazine is I have
a fair bit of what can be considered definitive stuff on my disk.
E.g., re "Was NetCom the first commercial public access Internet site":
Here's what Netcom had to say
Someone said:
>>>...NETCOM, a five year old Silicon Valley start-up, was the first commercial
>>> corporation to provide Internet access to the individual.
Barry Shein of Software Tool & Die (which runs The World) noted:
>Yes, that's simply not true. ...
>But I've never had anyone seriously challenge (e.g. a name and a date)
>The World's claim to this particular trivium. The World started in
>November of 1989 and was offering interactive internet connectivity
>(telnet, ftp, etc.) to the general public around January 1990.
Here's a quote from Bob Rieger, President of Netcom, taken from the
done-by-email interview slated for the March/April issue (which
should, I believe, have rolled off the presses and now be in the
distribution cycle). (Please contact MecklerMedia [Westport CT]
not me for samples, copies, info, etc. Thanks)
[ <discussion re demonstrating bona fides to qualify for > ]
"... and we made a connection to the Internet through a
Regional Services Provider in February of 1991."
As someone who's been using a ST&D account since 1990 or earlier,
I sure do remember when World got on the net. (Things sure have
changed since then ... )
DPD
Daniel Dern (ddern@world.std.com) Internet author & technology/business writer
Author, The Internet Guide For New Users, (McGraw-Hill, 1993)
Outgoing editor-in-chief, Internet World magazine (done as of Feb 10 94)
