Older Than the Web: Difference between revisions

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'''Older Than the Web''' tropes were named or invented before the widespread use of the '''World Wide Web'''. For the purpose of this page, that means the trope was developed prior to September 1993 but after widespread use of television in the 1940s (see [[Older Than Television]] for that).
The Internet was first developed in the 1960s with projects such as [[wikipedia:ARPANET|ARPANET]]. While the exact history of the internet is complex and questionable, rules for this had to be put in place.


This period of history saw the rise of mass media, primarily in [[television]] but also in [[Pop Music]] and [[radio]]. [[Rock and Roll]] had finally evolved from the Delta Blues, and led to countless variations in genres from [[Funk]] to [[Heavy Metal]] to [[Disco]] to [[Punk Rap]]. Television began from a few stations broadcasting a few hours a day of black-and-white signals to tiny screens, but rose to nearly 100 cable channels by the end broadcast to giant projection screens.
For the purpose, this will only focus on when the Internet was release for commercial reasons. That means Tropes first documented in the era when television was becoming common media (1940s) and before the emergence of commercial usage of the Internet by civilians, known as the '''World Wide Web''' (1990s).

Even 20 years later, this sounds like [[Zeerust]] with modern flat-panel TVs, hundreds of TV channels, [[podcast]]s and [[Netflix]]. But for this period, most of the distribution was tightly controlled by the content companies, who decided what you'd watch and when you'd watch it. And then the [[VCR]] arrived, a forerunner of the more disruptive inventions to come.

Meanwhile, what we call the Internet was first developed in the 1960s as the [[wikipedia:ARPANET|ARPANET]] project, but no most had never heard of the Internet until much later. Even as of 1994, you can find news anchors asking [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUs7iG1mNjI "What is Internet?"].

Why choose September 1993 as the dividing line? That month saw the first beta release of the Mosaic web browser -- the first web browser ever developed. Also, this was the month that America Online (AOL) first allowed its "dial-up" subscribers to access [[UseNet]]. Previous denizens of the 'Net called it the [[Eternal September]] -- the month the newbies never went away. Sadly, we are still subjected to their inane [[YouTube]] comments to this day. Anyway, tropes that were developed on the internet but before the [[Eternal September]] go on that page. By the next year, we already saw the first interactions of television with the Web, as [[JMS]] actively interacted with internet fans about his new show [[Babylon 5]].


{{tropelist|Tropes created or named during this time period:}}
{{tropelist|Tropes created or named during this time period:}}
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Revision as of 01:04, 24 April 2014

Older Than the Web tropes were named or invented before the widespread use of the World Wide Web. For the purpose of this page, that means the trope was developed prior to September 1993 but after widespread use of television in the 1940s (see Older Than Television for that).

This period of history saw the rise of mass media, primarily in television but also in Pop Music and radio. Rock and Roll had finally evolved from the Delta Blues, and led to countless variations in genres from Funk to Heavy Metal to Disco to Punk Rap. Television began from a few stations broadcasting a few hours a day of black-and-white signals to tiny screens, but rose to nearly 100 cable channels by the end broadcast to giant projection screens.

Even 20 years later, this sounds like Zeerust with modern flat-panel TVs, hundreds of TV channels, podcasts and Netflix. But for this period, most of the distribution was tightly controlled by the content companies, who decided what you'd watch and when you'd watch it. And then the VCR arrived, a forerunner of the more disruptive inventions to come.

Meanwhile, what we call the Internet was first developed in the 1960s as the ARPANET project, but no most had never heard of the Internet until much later. Even as of 1994, you can find news anchors asking "What is Internet?".

Why choose September 1993 as the dividing line? That month saw the first beta release of the Mosaic web browser -- the first web browser ever developed. Also, this was the month that America Online (AOL) first allowed its "dial-up" subscribers to access UseNet. Previous denizens of the 'Net called it the Eternal September -- the month the newbies never went away. Sadly, we are still subjected to their inane YouTube comments to this day. Anyway, tropes that were developed on the internet but before the Eternal September go on that page. By the next year, we already saw the first interactions of television with the Web, as JMS actively interacted with internet fans about his new show Babylon 5.

Tropes created or named during this time period:
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