20th Anniversary of the Dawn of Dot-Com

btempleton writes "It was 20 years ago today when I posted to USENET the public launch of ClariNet, my electronic newspaper service delivered over the Internet. By finding a way around the NSFNet acceptable use policy, ClariNet was the first business founded to use the Internet as its platform for business, and the era of the 'dot-com' had begun. For the anniversary I have written a history of the founding of ClariNet and early internet business, which outlines how it all came down. Readers may also enjoy the included anecdote about what I term 'M5' reliability, where the news system was so robust that, like the M5 computer on Star Trek, even those authorized to do so were unable to shut it off; and a story of the earliest large SF eBook effort."

Tooting One's Own Horn

[courtarro]

This story is all well and interesting, but I imagine it's impossible to prove that you're the first business to make money exclusively over the internet. You might be "one of the first", but to go all the way to the birth of my business represents the birth of dot-com is a bit vain, no?

I remember ClariNet

[roc97007]

I remember ClariNet. I remember thinking, "why in God's name should I pay for something that I can get for free?"

But it turns out, there are people who will do that, and the rest is history.

Re:Tomatoes

[QuantumG]

It was bullshit.. which anyone with half a clue could see.

Slashdot editors doing editing, shocking I know.

Re:Tomatoes

[snowraver1]

"It's a very simple process," she says. "Anyone can do it. We plan to start selling the spray - 'Genie Mist' - in a matter of weeks. One bottle will sell for five dollars and be capable of treating 6,000 seedlings."

Act now! And that's not all! Call within the next 5 minutes, and we'll DOUBLE your order for FREE! That's 12,000 seeds! It's fun for the whole family! Look at grandma! She loves tomatoes! MMM MMM! But wait, there's more! For a limited time only, we'll throw in three flavor sprays to make the tomato actually taste good! Groovy Grape! Outrageous Orange! And Crazy Cap'n Crunchberries! ACT NOW!!!!

Some things never change...

[Anonymous Coward]

Good to see some things are eternally consistent. Brad is still trying to convince anyone who will listen he's The Most Important Person On The Internet. As it was in the ancient days, so it is today.

I remember ClariNet (having been on the net for a couple of years). I remember the bullshit megalomania. I remember the bright flameout. I remember all the subsequent, desperate attempts to to portray the whole thing as vastly more important than it was.

If *everyone* who comes after you does it better than you do, maybe you really aren't that innovative.

This should have come from someone else

[ActusReus]

I think that claiming a "dot-com" four years prior to the initial release of NCSA Mosaic [wikipedia.org] is absurd. If we're going to contort definitions THAT far, then the first dot-com was probably on Prodigy or Compuserve or maybe even BBS'es in the 1970's.

While I respect and appreciate this post contributor's involvement in the EFF... this particular conversation seems like an awfully self-serving attempt to shoehorn "inventor of the dot-com" onto a resume, a la Al Gore and his infamous "creation of the Internet". Templeton COULD have a claim to this title, but it would feel far more legitimate if he had someone else making the "nomination" as opposed to all the extremely vigorous self-promotion.

There's a reason why Google's search-ranking algorithm works the way it does... because your legitimacy as a public figure depends on how many OTHER people are talking about you, rather than how many words you spew yourself. If you want to move to the top of the heap, you need to use a link farm (i.e. having some other people write stuff like this to Slashdot on your behalf).

Re:This should have come from someone else

[ActusReus]

I believe we're all aware of the distinction between a web browser and "the internet", sir. The more contentious question seems to be the distinction between Usenet and a "dot-com".

You claim that that a business platform on TCP/IP-based Usenet is a "dot-com", whereas a business platform on TCP/IP-based email is not. In the hands of a disinterested third-party, this distinction has little merit. In the hands of a biased party in search of bragging rights, this distinction is an absurdity.

Not only do we understand your point here on Slashdot, but Slashdot may be the ONLY place where it would even be entertained and discussed. In the hands of everyone else on the Internet, a "dot-com" is a website... and this whole conversation is silly.