Ted Nelson, Harvard sociology student

Ted Nelson, Harvard sociology student

• Ted Nelson, Harvard sociology student

• Formulates the concept of hypertext

Nelson, now a sociology prof at Vassar College in upstate New York

• Nelson, now a sociology prof at Vassar College in upstate New York

• Gives a lecture which is covered in the student newspaper. The first print reference of “hypertext” appears, Feb. 3, 1965

ARPANET computer network created by the U.S. Defense Department

• ARPANET computer network created by the U.S. Defense Department

• The forerunner of today’s Internet

• Their goal: Design a computer network to withstand nuclear attack

Decentralized system created under the basic assumption that parts of the network will fail

• Decentralized system created under the basic assumption that parts of the network will fail

• Building the network this way lays the foundation for the Internet as a medium that is controlled by no single entity

• 1972: The organization in charge is now called DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency)

The BBC files for a patent on “Teledata,” the first teletext system

• The BBC files for a patent on “Teledata,” the first teletext system

• Called a "Rolodex in the sky”

A loop of “pages” broadcast on TV

• A loop of “pages” broadcast on TV

• Not interactive

• Service is limited to a few hundred available pages

• Slow

The British Post Office’s Research Laboratory demonstrates “Viewdata” (later “Prestel”) the first Videotext service

• The British Post Office’s Research Laboratory demonstrates “Viewdata” (later “Prestel”) the first Videotext service

• It’s truly interactive, supporting two-way communication

• You use your TV, hooked up to cable and a phone line

• You make entries using a keyboard, dedicated terminal or computer

• Menu-driven systems allow users to browse

• Better graphics than teletext; even photo display.

Canada begins development of Telidon, an advanced videotext system. Goes into operation in 1979 and is considered a world leader with advanced graphics technology

• Canada begins development of Telidon, an advanced videotext system. Goes into operation in 1979 and is considered a world leader with advanced graphics technology

First computer-based

• First computer-based

• online dial-up services

• emerge Eg.:

• Compuserve

• The Source

• Prodigy

1983: Time Magazine names the computer “Machine of the Year”

• 1983: Time Magazine names the computer “Machine of the Year”

• 1984: Apple introduces the Macintosh computer. Cost: $2,495 US with built-in B&W monitor. Within 75 days, 50,000 are sold

• 1985: Worldwide 22 nations are said to be involved in videotext and teletext

1986: Computers readily available in university computer labs, offices Computers becoming cheaper and more powerful; first personal printers appear; ($7,000 US for an Apple LaserWriter)

• 1986: Computers readily available in university computer labs, offices Computers becoming cheaper and more powerful; first personal printers appear; ($7,000 US for an Apple LaserWriter)

• 1988: Internet Relay Chat (IRC, a forebearer to instant messaging) is developed by Finnish graduate student Jarkko Oikarinen DARPA makes the Internet public

Hypertext Markup Language is invented by Tim Berners-Lee, an Englishman, and colleagues at CERN, the European Particle Physics Laboratory

• Hypertext Markup Language is invented by Tim Berners-Lee, an Englishman, and colleagues at CERN, the European Particle Physics Laboratory

July: Lynx, a non-graphical Web and Gopher (FTP)  “browser” is released by the University of Kansas

• July: Lynx, a non-graphical Web and Gopher (FTP)  “browser” is released by the University of Kansas

• November: There are 26 “reasonably reliable” servers exist on the World Wide Web, according to CERN

August: Mosaic, first graphical Web browser for Windows, is released by the University of Illinois. It causes the web to grow at a 341,634% annual rate of service traffic

• August: Mosaic, first graphical Web browser for Windows, is released by the University of Illinois. It causes the web to grow at a 341,634% annual rate of service traffic

October: First journalism site on the Web is launched at the University of Florida. There now are about 200 web servers in the world

• October: First journalism site on the Web is launched at the University of Florida. There now are about 200 web servers in the world

• Dec. 8: First article about the web appears in the New York Times

Jan. 19: The first newspaper to regularly publish on the Web, the Palo Alto Weekly in California, begins twice-weekly postings of its full content

• Jan. 19: The first newspaper to regularly publish on the Web, the Palo Alto Weekly in California, begins twice-weekly postings of its full content

• April: The Yahoo “Internet index” is started by Stanford PhD candidates David Filo and Jerry Yang

June: the first Canadian newspaper, the Halifax Daily News goes online

• June: the first Canadian newspaper, the Halifax Daily News goes online

May: More than 150 news outlets in North America now have online editions

• May: More than 150 news outlets in North America now have online editions

• October: The Boston Globe launches Boston.com on the Web, a unique site bringing many local services together

March 26: “Heaven’s Gate” Suicides The Internet becomes part of a major news story when members of the Heaven’s Gate cult create a website before committing suicide. Journalists point readers to their source material

• March 26: “Heaven’s Gate” Suicides The Internet becomes part of a major news story when members of the Heaven’s Gate cult create a website before committing suicide. Journalists point readers to their source material

March: False reports emerge online that TWA Flight 800, which crashes off Long Island in 1996 was brought down by a U.S. navy missile

• March: False reports emerge online that TWA Flight 800, which crashes off Long Island in 1996 was brought down by a U.S. navy missile

• The power of the medium becomes apparent as readers pressure investigators to reveal the “truth”

The Smoking Gun debuts -- it publishes entire court documents and other primary sources online

• The Smoking Gun debuts -- it publishes entire court documents and other primary sources online

The Dallas Morning News online edition gets an exclusive that Timothy McVeigh has claimed responsibility for the Oklahoma City Bombing

• The Dallas Morning News online edition gets an exclusive that Timothy McVeigh has claimed responsibility for the Oklahoma City Bombing

• First time a mainstream news organization breaks a major story on its website -- not in its newspaper

Jan. 19 -- Early reports of U.S. President Clinton’s involvement with White House intern Monica Lewinsky demonstrate how a small independent news site can seize a national news agenda

• Jan. 19 -- Early reports of U.S. President Clinton’s involvement with White House intern Monica Lewinsky demonstrate how a small independent news site can seize a national news agenda

A media frenzy follows in both the online and traditional press

• A media frenzy follows in both the online and traditional press

September: Starr Report A new relationship between politicians and the public – Starr bypasses the press and distributes a major political document online first

• September: Starr Report A new relationship between politicians and the public – Starr bypasses the press and distributes a major political document online first

Mainstream news sites begin to involve their audience

• Mainstream news sites begin to involve their audience

• Death of Pierre Trudeau: Thousands of Canadians tell their stories on news websites

Sept. 11: Online news operations stumble …

• Sept. 11: Online news operations stumble …

… then recover …

• … then recover …

Classified listings flee print ... and take money with them

• Classified listings flee print ... and take money with them

Canada.com moves to paid subscription model

• Canada.com moves to paid subscription model

• Breaking news is free

• Other content requires $$

The dawn of citizen journalism

• The dawn of citizen journalism

• Blogging software makes web publishing easy and eliminates the need to know HTML

Bloggers beat the mainstream media to tsunami-ravaged South-East Asia …

• Bloggers beat the mainstream media to tsunami-ravaged South-East Asia …

… bringing home the reality of the event with amateur video

• … bringing home the reality of the event with amateur video

Time Magazine Person of the Year

• Time Magazine Person of the Year

“More sites were becoming profitable … [but] rivals on the Web that offer classified listings or aggregate other people’s work -- but produce very little journalistic content of their own -- were continuing to steal revenues away. There still appears no clear path for transferring to this new medium all the wealth that has long financed journalism for the good of civil society.”

• “More sites were becoming profitable … [but] rivals on the Web that offer classified listings or aggregate other people’s work -- but produce very little journalistic content of their own -- were continuing to steal revenues away. There still appears no clear path for transferring to this new medium all the wealth that has long financed journalism for the good of civil society.”

“Practicing journalism has become far more difficult and demands new vision. Journalism is becoming a smaller part of people’s information mix …

• “Practicing journalism has become far more difficult and demands new vision. Journalism is becoming a smaller part of people’s information mix …

• “Journalists have reacted relatively slowly … There are signs that government, corporations and activists have reacted more quickly. Politicians, interest groups and corporate public relations people tell us they have bloggers now on secret retainer — and they are delighted with the results.”

“The evidence is mounting that the news industry must become more aggressive about developing a new economic model. The signs are clearer that advertising works differently online than in older media. “Finding out about goods and services on the Web is an activity unto itself, like using the yellow pages, and less a byproduct of getting news, such as seeing a car ad during a newscast. The consequence is that advertisers may not need journalism as they once did, particularly online.”

• “The evidence is mounting that the news industry must become more aggressive about developing a new economic model. The signs are clearer that advertising works differently online than in older media. “Finding out about goods and services on the Web is an activity unto itself, like using the yellow pages, and less a byproduct of getting news, such as seeing a car ad during a newscast. The consequence is that advertisers may not need journalism as they once did, particularly online.”

September: Journalism sites move away from subscription-based news

• September: Journalism sites move away from subscription-based news

• Advertising is seen as the only workable funding model

“As a category, news Web sites appear to be falling behind financially. They are not growing in advertising revenue as quickly as other kinds of Internet destinations. And these figures do not include the most important revenue source, search, where news is a relatively small player. The questions of who will pay and how they will do it seem more pressing than ever.”

• “As a category, news Web sites appear to be falling behind financially. They are not growing in advertising revenue as quickly as other kinds of Internet destinations. And these figures do not include the most important revenue source, search, where news is a relatively small player. The questions of who will pay and how they will do it seem more pressing than ever.”

The Internet is

• The Internet is

• a network of computers

Created in 1990 when Englishman Tim Berners-Lee and colleagues at the European Center for Particle Physics developed a computer language that enabled users to navigate by clicking on underlined words called links.

• Created in 1990 when Englishman Tim Berners-Lee and colleagues at the European Center for Particle Physics developed a computer language that enabled users to navigate by clicking on underlined words called links.

The language:

• The language:

• Hypertext Markup Language.

The Web is a place where people do things

• The Web is a place where people do things

• buy airline tickets
• search for recipes
• read about disease
• read and interact with the news
• buy computers
• listen to the radio
• other things?

Capacity

• Capacity

• Nearly unlimited space, limited only by human decisions and high-capacity servers

• Flexibility

• words, pictures, audio, video, graphics

• Immediacy

• Information as events unfold
• Sept. 11, tsunami, hurricanes
• Breadth, or expansion (several angles to the same topic)
• Depth (quality and depth of information about an individual story)

• Permanence

• Nothing need be lost

• Interactivity

• Immediate feedback channel
• email links, forums, polls

Online services must be personally useful

• Online services must be personally useful

• Popularity of email and search engines

• Interactivity is a key element

• weakness of traditional media, but not online journalism

• Content must be free unless it is very specialized

• Wall Street Journal sells subscriptions
• Ebay makes commissions
• Second layer (page 2) to espn.com
• Adult sites make money

• Real money is not in the technology but in the programming

• Advertisers will pay money if the audience is there for the content

Roots of the WWW go back three decades

• Roots of the WWW go back three decades

• Like most inventions, the WWW was more like an evolution than an invention

• Teletext  Videotext  BBS  WWW

• WWW gives journalists a new, unique and interactive way to tell the story.