gilest.org

The internet column archive

Every week for over a decade, I wrote a syndicated column for the Press Association. I started writing it while still on the PA staff, and continued after leaving to go freelance. In April 2014, I resigned the gig as I was too busy with my new job at GDS.

This folder of 589 text files contains my (incomplete) archive of everything I wrote for the column. The oldest file is from August 2001 and talks about early efforts by the likes of Homebase and Boots to build online stores.

Together, they're a patchy, not-always-accurate history of the UK web scene from 2000 to 2014.

A few selected highlights:

• A brief write-up of FaxYourMP December 2000
• Basics of blogging, including Blogger and Greymatter March 2001
• Launch of Mac OS X March 2001
• When Friends Reunited first became a thing July 2001
• Googlewhacking February 2002
• Apple releases Safari v1 January 2003
• "Thank goodness for people like Matthew Somerville" September 2003
• Memepool December 2003
• First (brief) mention of Gmail April 2004
• First mention of Flickr December 2004
• Million Dollar Homepage October 2005
• The death of Ask Jeeves February 2006
• First mention of Twitter November 2006
• Lolcats: "Honestly, it's funnier when you see the pictures" July 2007
• "Facebook is a community web site..." August 2007

Filed under: work
(6th January 2015)

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