Google Search Decline Is Overstated
The narrative that Google Search is dying ignores what it's still best at and where alternatives actually win....
What CompuServe Taught Me About Platform Death
CompuServe had first-mover advantage, loyal users, and great technology. They still lost to AOL. The lessons about platform economics, business model evolution, and corporate ownership remain relevant...
The Browser Is Your Best Security Sandbox
Modern browsers run untrusted code from millions of sources daily and contain threats successfully. Browser-based applications inherit security properties that native apps can't match....
I Built a CMS at MSNBC Before Anyone Called Them CMSs
In 1996 at MSNBC, I built Workbench - a content management system for editors, copy editors, and photo teams before the term CMS existed. Workflow automation for non-technical users....
What Being a SysOp Taught Me About Running Systems
Running BBSs in the 1980s meant handling hardware, limited connections, users gaming the system, moderation, and community - with no cloud, no scaling, no support tickets. Lessons that still apply....
My Web Crawler Crashed a Server at Los Alamos
How a homemade web crawler in 1993 crashed a Los Alamos server, the birth of robots.txt, and why AI companies are breaking the web etiquette that held for 30 years....
When CompuServe Was the Internet
CompuServe pioneered email, forums, and chat for 3 million users before the web. The community-building lessons from that era—invested moderators, friction as a feature, human-scale communities—remain...
FidoNet: The Internet Before the Internet
FidoNet was a global network connecting thousands of BBSs via scheduled phone calls. Email, newsgroups, file distribution - everything we associate with the internet existed first on FidoNet....
Barren Realms Elite and the Golden Age of BBS Door Games
Trade Wars, Legend of the Red Dragon, Barren Realms Elite - BBS door games created the template for online gaming. First-person perspective from a SysOp who ran them....
What BBS Culture Taught Us That Silicon Valley Forgot
1980s BBS culture created authentic communities through sysop relationships and local control. Taiwan's PTT still has 1.5M active users. First-person perspective from a former SysOp....
Why ICQ Died: Lessons From the First Instant Messenger
ICQ invented instant messaging and reached 100 million users. Then it died through corporate neglect, software bloat, and missed mobile transition. Every messaging platform today faces the same forces...
How 'Piracy' Actually Helped Technology Move Forward
Software piracy in the 80s and 90s built the networks, protocols, and communities that became legitimate tech infrastructure. BitTorrent, streaming, cloud storage - all have roots in the scene....
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