In the Beginning

What this episode covers

Everything’s got a beginning. If there’s any debate at all, it turns on the who, what, when, where or why of the origin. Chicken or egg. Big Bang or Big Crunch. Post-pandemic recovery. (Oops. That’s not started yet). Global warming. The Internet. Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. (Channel Yul Brynner from the 1956 classic, The King and I, and re-read that last sentence. You’ll be the better for it). So, let’s talk Internet. For sure, it had a beginning. Conventional wisdom says Al Gore gets the credit. The facts say otherwise — but who listens to them anymore. Haven’t you ever wondered how the Internet got started? The team from Failure - the Podcast hasn’t either. Given the number of times we repeat that old saw about Veep Gore, we really should, though. Well, the day of reckoning is upon us. You. Us. All of us. Humanity. Sentient beings throughout the galaxy. The universe, even. It’s time to learn whence the Internet arose. Drum roll, please. Thunder! Lightening! Hi-Yo, Silver! (Sorry. Got carried away in the moment, with that last one). Our guest, for today’s travesty … er, episode … is Tim Horgan, the former web services guru of Digital Equipment Corporation. Tim was there when it happened: he witnessed the dawn of the Internet era. He bathed in its light — metaphorically speaking, only, of course. Haven’t heard of Digital Equipment Corporation, or DEC (rhymes with “deck,” as everyone over that certain age knows)? Let’s just say that DEC was the IBM of the computer industry in the 1980s. Yeah, IBM was the IBM of that era, too, but, it had competitors. DEC was one of them. So were Wang Laboratories, Data General, and a host of others whose names probably make the Gen X’ers, Y’ers, and Z’ers eyes roll, if they’re even paying attention at all. Tim may not have invented the internet, but he’s certainly got something to say about its adoption in e-commerce. We’re not promising much, or that it’ll even be worth your while, but join the team for Failure - the Podcast in a rousing, coronavirus-era, socially-distant, Zoomtastic call with Tim Horgan. Like we said before, you’ll be the better for it. (Yes, even you, Gen Z’ers!).

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