1995: Hitting the Spot
One Year
Slate Podcasts
4.4 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 9 December 2021
⏱️ 57 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In 1995, aspiring filmmakers created the first ever soap opera on the Web. Hollywood saw it as the future of entertainment. But a fan-led revolt showed that interactivity sometimes has a price. This week, Evan Chung explains the rise and fall of The Spot.
One Year is produced by Evan Chung, Josh Levin, and Madeline Ducharme. Additional production help from Cheyna Roth. Mixing by Merritt Jacob.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | You're listening AdFree on Amazon Music. |
| 0:04.3 | Hey, this is Josh Levine, the host of One Year. |
| 0:07.7 | I hope you're enjoying our season on 1995. |
| 0:11.0 | This week, I'm turning things over to One Year's producer, Evan Chung. |
| 0:16.3 | When Paul Camuso first logged on to the internet at the very beginning of the 1990s, |
| 0:21.2 | he didn't find it all that exciting. |
| 0:24.0 | There really wasn't much anything. I mean, basically there were bulletin boards. |
| 0:27.8 | You know, there were forums, there was information, there was news services. |
| 0:31.8 | Very, very basic, though. I mean, it was just all more tech-related and nerd stuff. |
| 0:39.1 | Paul was working for the software company Lotus. |
| 0:42.3 | If you weren't a tech geek like he was, chances are that you'd never heard of the internet, let alone used it. |
| 0:48.7 | They were text-only non-graphical interfaces. |
| 0:51.9 | Basically, you had to sort of keep a little notebook that had IP addresses. |
| 0:57.0 | I mean, it was that simple back in those days. |
| 1:00.0 | But in 1995, everything was changing. |
| 1:06.0 | The Internet was becoming more accessible thanks to something called the World Wide Web. |
| 1:12.2 | The World Wide Web is the fastest growing segment of the Internet, but most importantly, it is the most fun. |
| 1:18.7 | The web was simple to navigate with the arrival of search engines. |
| 1:22.8 | Type in the topic and click on search. |
| 1:25.2 | Whoa, cool. Everything I need is right here. |
| 1:28.3 | And the web was graphical, thanks to the slick new Netscape Navigator browser. |
| 1:34.3 | Programs like it are the future of the Internet. |
... |
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