Learn HTML and then what?

Create a Portal For An Area You Grew Up 

Before owning actual domain names, people began dabbling in ways to fill the empty space of the gigantic new world, the World Wide Web. I took pictures of our little Cupertino, CA cul-de-sac neighborhood – the get-togethers, children, pets, walking trails, Stevens Creek, and even the wildlife (raccoons). I imagined creating a monthly newsletter.  As crafty and tech savvy as I thought I was, I would show off my skills and put it online. What an innovative idea! A novelty. No need to hand out fliers nor knock on doors. It would be there with a click of a mouse.

Privacy Worries

However, I worried about security and privacy to families if personal info was posted on the web. Instead, to make it more secure, I decided to put it on disk/cd first for the neighbors. I never got as far as putting flyers out, nor think I was brave enough to go beyond creating the first issue. (This was before Facebook and all the social media sharing that later came out.)

It surprised me to hear that others also did something similar back in the day! We were all venturing out into the soon to be called, Cyberspace, in our own way. Luckily, many got much further in the process. 

Hrm, Mr. Zuckerberg, were we a bit ahead of you? Keep in mind, our neighborhood in Cupertino, CA is only 12 minutes away from Los Altos, CA, the city where Facebook was created. (This year their home was listed for sale for $5.3 million). Hrmm. 

Websites Before Individual Domain Names

Domain names were expensive in the early days. Generally, only business bought space on the web with their own domain name. However, thanks to the innovation of some Internet providers, regular folks were able to make our mark on the web. I worked for San Jose-based Netcom On-Line Communication Services Inc., a company that provided not only to businesses, but also to people with limited budgets, space on the web or as the called it, in Cyberspace. 

Blurry Pictures and Poetry

To start my site, I added blurry pictures, looking down from Netcom’s high rise windows in downtown San Jose, CA , taking the photos in the evenings after most co-workers left for the day.

I uploaded the pictures to that small web page link from Netcom. Included with their Internet access accounts, customers were given 1 megabyte to develop sites. To reach the site, meant typing a full URL with a tilde (www .ix.netcom .com /username /~ mysite ) like:

http://www.ix.netcom.com/~username.html

I added pictures and poetry but think I was about the only one that ever looked at them. Not too much different for me then than it is today.

My First Website With Traffic

My first true single page web site was about Hale-Bopp, the comet, in 1997. No domain name. Somehow, folks all over the world found the page with it’s animated sky. Visitors posted comments on their

experience in viewing Hale-Bopp. Folks as far away as Africa, were posting! (Read more about Hale-Bopp, Heaven’s Gate, 1997). I asked a co-worker to translate the page into French so they could select the language to get to the correct landing page. 

So many opportunities were there for all of us. Do we still have a chance to do something great with that vast cyberspace now topped full of domains?

Read More >>

If you feel a bit nostalgic after reading this post, you may want to check out an article written by John R. Quain in FastCompany  May 31, 1998, titled:

            Build Your Place in Cyberspace

“From registering a domain name to adding just the right touches, here’s our 10-step guide to help you build your home on the Web“

Do you know any folks that want to share their stories from when the Internet started?

Enjoy!