Symbolics.com was the internet’s first domain name. It’s since been taken over by Aron Meystedt, CEO of XF Investments, and relocated to symbolics-dks.com, but Symbolics.com was registered 25-years ago to this day by a Massachusetts computer company of the same name. Makes you feel old, doesn’t it? I don’t remember even using the internet for another ten years, at the least. In 1986 the speed of Internet was 56 kbps — I definitely remember the “slow” connection speeds when I started surfing. Although, I was too much in awe then, whereas a dial-up connection was more so amazing than slow to me at the time. Then, of course, there was a technology boom — everything became outdated the minute after you bought it and other connection options became available…
Only five domains were registered in 1985. Within the first 100 registered, Apple sits at number 64. They registered in February 1987, whereas Microsoft did not bite the bullet until 1991. The majority of the first domains registered are computer companies, including IBM, Sun, Intel, AMD and Cisco — most of them in 1986 according to Wired. It wasn’t until 1997, a year after Clinton passed the 1996 Telecommunications Act, that dot-coms hit the 1 million mark. Now, there are over 84 million dot-com domains.
I doubt anyone can say that Internet hasn’t impacted the world. In fact, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) quantified the economic impact of the dot-com boom in a recent study which found it responsible for a revenue of $400 billion in annual economic activity. ITIF also estimates this number will grow to $960 billion in annual revenue by the year 2020.
VeriSign, operator of dot-com, is hosting an exclusive soiree tomorrow in Washington D.C. to celebration the impact of dot-com — President Clinton is the (rightful) keynote speaker at the events. Read more about the celebration at 25yearsof.com.
