Netscape at 30
According to my notes, it went live shortly after midnight on Oct 13, 1994. We sat in the conference room in the dark and listened to different sound effects fired for each different platform that was downloaded. At some point late that night I wandered off and wrote the first version of the page that loaded when you pressed the “What’s Cool” button in the toolbar.
[…]
This beta release was an unannounced surprise. Prior to this, everyone assumed that what we were doing was going to be a standard for-sale product where you sent off your $35 and then some time later got a disc in the mail with a license key.
[…]
These anniversaries keep piling up, so I don’t really have a lot to add, but check my NSCP tag or the Previouslies for more, particularly the links in this one.
The thing that confuses people sometimes about new platforms is that while the platform and its clients are different things, you usually need both to be great for the whole thing to succeed.
a16z:
In this special episode, Marc and Ben dive deep into the REAL story behind the creation of Netscape—a web browser co-created by Marc that revolutionized the internet and changed the world. As Ben notes at the top, until today, this story has never been fully told either in its entirety or accurately.
In this one-on-one conversation, Marc and Ben discuss Marc’s early life and how it shaped his journey into technology, the pivotal moments at the University of Illinois that led to the development of Mosaic (a renegade browser that Marc developed as an undergrad), and the fierce competition and legal battles that ensued as Netscape rose to prominence.
Previously:
- 30 Years of the Web
- Lessons From 6 Software Rewrite Stories
- Mosaic’s Birthday: 25 Years of the Modern Web
- Funding the Web
- 20th Anniversary of Netscape’s Founding
Update (2024-10-22): Adam:
Don’t forget the documentary!
