More Internet History Gone

A sad announcement for computer history - AOL is officially axed Netscape, the first commercial browser and descendent of the first graphical browser, Mosaic. Not only did the company change the way we interact with information, but also helped spawn the Tech Boom of the 90's, the current Mozilla project, and a ill-fated investigation of an un-named software company. The word is that about half of the Netscape staff was let go, and that others are being moved about AOL. The only good news I have is that a) standards guru Eric Meyer still is employed, and b) those dedicated to Mozilla development will fall under a new non-profit entity, The Mozilla Foundation.

So within a month of time, Netscape is closed and Microsoft announces that it will neither continue developing a browser for the Macintosh nor offer future stand-alone browsers for Windows. Now to be totally honest, I have long ceased using either product for some time; my current recommendations run toward Mozilla Firebird (for Windows) and Safari (for the Macintosh). But it seems amazing to me that such old-school software is collapsing in such a short period of time - I guess they were telling the truth when they said you can't make money from browsers! How this will change the future of the web is anyone's guess, but one thing is for sure: the future of browser development is in the hands of the next generation!