The internet is a fast-moving community where firsts are made and quickly surpassed. However, some of those firsts have become instrumental in creating the online environment enjoyed by all today. Check out this list of famous internet firsts to explore how history has shaped today’s social media-savvy world:
The First Email
The first email was sent in 1971. Although the message wasn’t memorable—Ray Tomlinson, the sender, doesn’t remember what it was, himself—it set the stage for instantaneous text-based communication regardless of physical distance. As of 2013, 76% of the nearly four billion email accounts worldwide were consumer accounts. However, business email accounts were responsible for the majority of the 100 billion emails sent and received each day.
The First Picture
The first photo ever uploaded to the internet featured a comedy band called Les Horrible Cernettes. It was uploaded in 1992 by Tim Berners-Lee, one of the original inventors of the internet. Today, studies show that well over 300,000 photos are uploaded each minute to Facebook alone, which adds up to over six billion photos each month for this single website.
The First Banner Ad
The internet’s first banner ad was run by Joe McCambley in 1994. Sponsored by AT&T, the ad ran on HotWired.com and received a 44% clickthrough rate. Currently, more than $15 billion is spent in the U.S. each year on internet display ads, with clickthrough rates of approximately 0.1%.
The First eBay Sale
In 1995, the first sale occurred on eBay. The sale was for a broken laser pointer, which sold for $14.83. Currently, billions of items are sold on eBay each year, resulting in nearly $200 million in daily monetary exchanges.
Now that you’ve seen the history of the internet, are you ready to become part of its future? Anchor Wave offers innovative and flexible web marketing solutions designed to help your business today and grow with you tomorrow. Check out our website to explore our portfolio, or call (480) 331-8920 to reach our Phoenix team or (520) 622-3731 for our Tucson team.
