Show Notes
A lot of credit is given to pornography for driving technological change. In reality it’s often an urban myth.
When rival video formats VHS vs Betamax fought a battle for supremacy, pornographers actually hedged their bets and invested in both. VHS’s eventual dominance was as due as much to their sales team as the adult entertainment business.
But online, there were some significant developments. The most important law relating to the internet, Section 230, was created due to an argument around pornography.
And in this episode Lee Noga tells us how pornography also led to familiar features like banner ads, double opt-in messages and webpage analytics. It turns out porn’s sticky fingers are all over modern UX.
We also hear from Gary Kremen, who is often credited with inventing online dating. Kremen was also involved in a convoluted court case over a $65million domain name.
Why is the internet the way it is? In Web 1.0, a six-part podcast series, Irish Times videographer Enda O’Dowd explores the arguments and innovations that were happening back when the web was new, and how they reverberate in today’s messy and chaotic online world. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
More from Web 1.0
Editing itself is a series of putting a structure, a controlled narrative, onto life - which is itself uncontrollable. In the book “The Uncontrollability of the World” author Harmut Rosa writes about how, in life today, there can be “no space in public and political discourse for the idea — the reality — of uncontrollability in social life.”
Web 1.0 is a new six part series from The Irish Times that looks at the origins of the modern internet. We talk to everyone from coders to astrologers and pornographers to hear the stories of people who were there and designed the methods of communications that we all use today.
This is the story of how Barry Flanaghan brought the internet into Irish homes. Though it’s an Irish story, there are variations of it in countries across the world.
Why is the internet the way it is? In Web 1.0, a new six-part podcast series, Irish Times videographer Enda O’Dowd explores the arguments and innovations that were happening back when the web was new, and how they reverberate in today’s messy and chaotic online world.
Why is the internet the way it is? In Web 1.0, a new six-part podcast series, Irish Times videographer Enda O’Dowd explores the arguments and innovations that were happening back when the web was new, and how they reverberate in today’s messy and chaotic online world.