Sunday, January 13, 2013

Who invented surfing the Internet?

Parting Thoughts
Before we surfed the net, folks mined it, navigated it, explored it, used it, or cruised it.  So who really came up with Surfing the Internet? 

I suppose I can take some credit for popularing it, because it's clear that "Surfing the Internet" really began to take over as the term of choice after I released my article to the Internet in December, 1992 for free FTP download. Immediately we had downloads from all over the world—500 in the first 12 hours, as I recall--which was a big deal in those early days.

My article was short enough to be translated into many languages, and it was meant to show people the fun and utility of using the Internet. Over the years I have kept many pieces of correspondence from people who found that early document useful, and took the time to write and thank me. I am happy that my article played a part in Internet history.

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