Fifteen Years Ago Today, Techdirt Was Born
from the feeling-old dept
We don't tend to be too sentimental about these things, but a few weeks back, I realized that we were rapidly approaching the 15th anniversary of the start of Techdirt in its earliest form. On August 23rd, 1997, I sent out the very first "Up To Date" email newsletter, which was roughly modeled on Danny O'Brien's much more clever and much more knowledgeable (and sadly missed) Need to Know newsletter (for what it's worth, Danny discovered my mimicry a few months later, and has always been quite kind about it). The very first newsletter was sent to -- I believe -- three people, and was really an alpha test of the concept. It's obviously quite different from what Techdirt became, but you can also see some inklings. Some of the things in the newsletter were silly (underestimating HTTP as a protocol? Oops!). Some were pretty good predictions (CNET's SNAP portal being a joke, Netscape trying to charge for its browser being a recipe for failure).Either way, today marks 15 years of doing this in one form or another. One week after this initial test, the newsletter went out to about 100 people -- mostly fellow students at Cornell's business school. A month later we were up to about 1,000 subscribers, and it built from there. By February of the next year the website finally came into existence (and with it, the Techdirt name, which beat out my second choice "bluedot" because a friend told me that sounded boring, while Techdirt sounded edgy). A year after that, the site itself morphed into a blog -- though the word "blog" still didn't exist -- using Slashcode 0.3 (which was a complete mess). And within a few years it was a part of my full time job.
Anyway, I wanted to share the moment, as I figured some of you might get a kick out of seeing that original offering. We're hoping to put together some sort of gathering in the fall to celebrate this anniversary (too much stuff going on to have it coincide with the actual date) and we'll share more info on that as we finalize those plans. Either way, none of the last 15 years happens without you folks being dedicated readers, commenters, submitters, link spreaders, etc. From starting out with a total audience of 3 people to the millions who now read our content every month, it's been quite a ride so far, and I hope to continue going strong for at least another fifteen years.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: anniversary, techdirt
Reader Comments
The First Word
“Hmm, let's see
Coincidentally, I'm fairly certain that fifteen years ago this day, I was fifteen years old and saw my very first real life, in-person booby. In other words, it's nice and rather synergistic that this is a meaningful day for the both of us.Kidding aside, congrats Techdirt and Techdirt-ers. I couldn't be prouder to be a small part of it....
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YAAAAARRRRRRRRR!
(Congrats, Techdirt!)
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Hmm, let's see
Kidding aside, congrats Techdirt and Techdirt-ers. I couldn't be prouder to be a small part of it....
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Re: Hmm, let's see
My oldest boy would have about 13 then (and also fixated on boobies).
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Re: Re: Hmm, let's see
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Re: Re: Re: Hmm, let's see
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Gratzies.
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Re:
I'd make a t-shirt with the sayings:
Techdirt: 15 years of tech, dirt and a whole lot of trolling!
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Re: Re:
It's also food.
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*singing*
Happy Birthday,
Mongol wisdom you must learn,
First you pillage, then you burn,
Happy Birthday.
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15 years old.
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Good job, and thanks.
What really appealed to me about TD was the totally open comments section. No email/password nothing. I could come here and join in the conversations with no roadblocks. No held for moderation. Just a free and open community that was passionate about fair copyright and government law. A non conspiracy look at the absurd laws being written that remove freedoms and culture.
I was hooked. And to this day I still read every article.
Thanks guys.
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"roughly modeled"
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Wow
I'm fairly certain I was a really stoned teenager on that date. You old, Mike.
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Huzzah!
I've been reading Techdirt religiously since 2005.
Thanks!
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I don't remember when I first started reading, but it was a good while before I created an account.
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Happy Birthday!
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August 23, 1997. I was all of 12 years and 6 days old on that date. Sheesh. I was a young'un.
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Interesting
Here's to another 15 years from you Mike with great reporting. :)
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Here's to fifteen more!
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fucking cool......
all 15 years of it..... someone open a window.....its starting to smell in here!
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Happy Birthday, TD!
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Poor trolls
There is that millions of dollars thing.....Biden could charge it...
Happy Birthday TD!!!
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HAPPY!!
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I got that second week's newsletter
its instead of it's.
Please correct.
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Re: I got that second week's newsletter
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Hear, hear
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and to maintain our liberties....
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I'm having some cake in your honor! (Any excuse to have my cake and eat it too.)
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monumental waste of 15 years
I wonder what the next 15 years will bring you in the way of achievments..
how very very sad,
15 years of winging, and still no one cares.. I wonder why after 15 years of calling for reforms and changes, none have gone your way.. seems the opposite allways happens from what you say is going to happen..
Long live HTTP, possibly you should have given up then, and actually goten a real job.
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Re: monumental waste of 15 years
15 years of WINGING?!??! But we only JUST released motha fucking eagles on all yer asses, yo!
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Re: monumental waste of 15 years
Those black and white goggles you view the world through must really get annoying when you want to watch a stunning sunset or experience a beautiful garden.
I wonder what the next 15 years will bring you in the way of achievments..
Me too.
how very very sad,
Wait. You are sad about Mike's achievements? You must live a lonely life.
15 years of winging, and still no one cares...
Well, except for the thousands who read Techdirt that is.
...I wonder why after 15 years of calling for reforms and changes, none have gone your way.. seems the opposite allways happens from what you say is going to happen..
Really? One word for you...SOPA.
Long live HTTP, possibly you should have given up then, and actually goten a real job.
Wait. Mike's doesn't have a real job. Someone should tell his employees and family that. They must all be living off of some sort of fake money or something.
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The more things change
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Damn
Happy Birthday! Soon Techdirt will be able to vote, like all native persons.
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Happy Birthday!
Has proof of prior art as well.
Expect his lawyers.
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Happy Birthday!
Has proof of prior art as well.
Expect his lawyers.
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Happy Anniversary!
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