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Posted, Dec. 16, 2004
Updated, Oct. 26, 2007


QuickLink: A75935

New Media Timeline (1999)

By David Shedden (more by author)
Library Director, Poynter Institute

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Previous: 1998 / Next: 2000
Timeline Intro

             SERVICES & TECH

  • March 1999 -- The Melissa computer virus spreads via e-mail attachments.

  • "Tim Berners-Lee: From the thousands of interconnected threads of the Internet, he wove the World Wide Web and created a mass medium for the 21st century." Time Magazine, March 29, 1999.

  • The top ten wired cities in the U.S. are: San Francisco, Austin, Seattle, Washington, Boston, San Jose, San Diego, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Atlanta and Dallas-Fort Worth. (Source: Yahoo! Internet Life)

  • Final Cut Pro, a non-linear editing system is introduced at a NAB meeting during 1999. (Final Cut Pro will later play a role in the development of multimedia production on the Web.)

  •  Craigslist, a centralized network of online communities featuring free classified advertisements and forums sorted by various topics, is incorporated. It was founded in 1995 by Craig Newmark.

  •  The U.S. Department of Commerce begins tracking Internet sales. They call e-commerce "a major indicator of the nation's economic health." In 1999 the four leading e-commerce brands are amazon.com, priceline.com, eBay and E-trade.

  • "The Spam That Started It All." Wired, April 13, 1999.

  • June 1, 1999 -- The original version of the Napster file sharing service is released by Shawn Fanning and Sean Parker.

  • August 1999 -- The blog publishing tool, Blogger, is launched by Pyra Labs. (In 2003 Pyra Labs is purchased by Google.)

  • Sept. 1999 -- Beta testing of the Google search engine is finished. (Source: Google History)

  • "Internet Predecessor Turns 30." CNN, Sept. 1999.

  • "Divide and Conquer?: IPO Deliberations Prolong the Suspense." Presstime, Dec. 1999.

  • "The Digital Century:
    We remember 100 computing events (crucial, improbable, or downright absurd) that changed our lives, opened our eyes, or made us smile."
    PC World, Dec. 1999.

            THE MEDIA

  • "The Internet audience is not only growing, it is getting decidedly mainstream. Two years ago, when just 23% of Americans were going online, stories about technology were the top news draw. Today, with 41% of adults using the Internet, the weather is the most popular online news attraction."
    (Source: "The Internet News Audience Goes Ordinary."
    Pew Research Center,
    Jan. 1999.)

  • "Prodigy Legacy Lives On."
    New York Times, Jan. 1999.

  • "After the Hack: Questions Follow the Times Attack." CJR, Jan./Feb. 1999.

  • News Example:
    April 20, 1999 --
    "Columbine School Shooting."
    (Source:
    Poynter's Links to the News)

  • May 1999 -- The Online News Association (ONA) is established and launches a website.

  • "Fear.com: Newspapers are on the Web because they have to be, but they're still trying to figure out what to do there." Chip Brown, AJR, June 1999.

  • News Example:
    July 18, 1999 --
    "JFK, Jr. Plane Crash."
    (Source:
    Poynter's Links to the News)

  • Oct. 1999 -- Jim Romenesko's popular website, "Mediagossip.com," moves to Poynter Online with the new name "Romenesko's Medianews." (The name is changed to "Romenesko" in 2003.)

  • News Example:
    Dec. 31, 1999 --
    "The Y2K Problem."
    (Source:
    Poynter's Links to the News)

Awards

    Statistics
    • The number of radio stations that broadcast their signal on the Internet is more than 2,200. This number is up from 56 stations three years ago.
      (Source: BRS Media)

    • The America Online dial-up service has 20,000,000 subscribers.
      (Source: AOL)

    • "More than 950 North American daily newspapers have launched online services."
      "Worldwide, there are more than 2,800 daily, weekly and other newspapers online."
      (Source: NAA)

    • There are approximately 1,311 television stations with sites on the Internet or dial-up services.
      (Source: Editor & Publisher)

    Additional Resources

     


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