[via Heiko]
Top 10 Downloads of the past 10 years
When CNET Download.com opened its doors in 1996, it was home to 3,000 small shareware and freeware applications. Online software distribution was still in its infancy. What a difference a near-decade makes! Since 1996, we’ve watched the rise of instant messaging, digital audio and the MP3 format, file sharing, spyware and antispyware, and the open-source movement, just to name a few. And we’ve watched as online software distribution has gone from pipe dream to reality. These 10 applications best represent the top trends in downloading over the past decade.
- ICQ
- Winamp
- Napster
- Firefox
- Winzip
- iTunes
- Ad-aware
- Skype
- RealPlayer
- Adobe Acrobat Reader
Top 10 dot-com flops
The most astounding thing about the dot-com boom was the obscene amount of money that was spent. Zealous venture capitalists fell over themselves to invest millions in Internet start-ups; dot-coms blew millions on spectacular marketing campaigns; new college graduates became instant millionaires (albeit on paper) and rushed out to spend it; and companies with unproven business models executed massive IPOs with sky-high stock prices. Of course, we all know what eventually happened to this world. Few of these companies actually made enough money to recoup that cash, and when their investors fled to the hills, these start-ups died dramatic deaths. These are the celebrity victims of the new-economy bust.
- Webvan (1999-2001)
- Pets.com (2000)
- Kozmo.com (1998-2001)
- Flooz.com (1998-2001)
- eToys.com (1997-2001)
- Boo.com (1998-2000)
- MVP.com (1999-2000)
- Go.com (1998-2001)
- Kibu.com (1999-2000)
- GovWorks.com (1999-2000)
Top 10 tech of 1995
Let’s stroll down memory lane to 1995. William Jefferson Clinton was president of the United States, and you were probably getting acquainted with six new friends (Rachel, Ross, Monica, Chandler, Phoebe, and Joey)–unless you were hanging out in the coffee shop, brooding in your grunge gear. We were stunned and saddened by the Oklahoma City bombings, and the “trial of the century” ended with O. J. Simpson’s acquittal. Heck, the San Francisco 49ers were Super Bowl champs (see, they were good at one point). All in all, 1995 was jam-packed. To kick off our anniversary, we have rounded up the 10 technologies from 1995 that helped shape the present and moved us into the future. Drumroll, please.
- Sony PlayStation
- IBM ThinkPad 701c
- Digital cameras
- Sony DCR-VX1000
- The Web
- Java
- USB Standard
- Flat-screen plasma display TVs
- CDMA (Qualcomm)
- eBay