JournoGeekery

On Twitter the other day, Justin Hall wrote:

hah! 18 years ago today, I posted my home page on the public web; here’s a 27 January 1994 version bit.ly/AraMW0

Eighteen years! That’s quite something. For reference, Justin’s site links.net is generally acknowledged to be the web’s first blog, before John Barger coined the term “weblog” (or Peter coined the more common contraction).

If you go right back to the start of links.net, Justin explains that he was inspired to start publishing online by a 1993 article in the New York Times—he has kept a copy on his site. What’s fascinating about the article is that, although it’s talking about the growth of the World Wide Web, it focuses on the rising popularity of Mosaic:

A new software program available free to companies and individuals is helping even novice computer users find their way around the global Internet, the network of networks that is rich in information but can be baffling to navigate.

The article’s attempt to explain the web is charming and helpful to recall, as Jeremy points out.

Note that the person quoted about Mosaic is Brian Reid of Google lawsuit notariety (see my previous post), in today’s very odd coincidence.