Ancient Web: Brad Templeton’s Homepage Kept ClariNet and Usenet History Together

Part of the Ancient Web Collection.

Brad Templeton's homepage looks like an enormous address book for internet history, with the peculiar advantage that the man who compiled it was involved in much of that history himself.

Visit Brad Templeton's homepage.

The site introduces Templeton as founder of ClariNet Communications, launched in 1989 to distribute professional news over the internet. It also points toward rec.humor.funny, a moderated Usenet comedy group he created, and his later work with the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Those projects predate the mainstream Web, but the homepage keeps their stories in linked documents rather than a retrospective book.

On the ClariNet history page, Templeton recounts the idea of selling editorially selected news to an audience that largely expected network services to be free. The archive distinguishes this news-publishing company from the access providers that sold internet connections. Claims about being the very first dot-com of a particular type are Templeton's characterization and depend on how one defines the category.

A 1994 speech about what the net was for

One especially useful document is his June 1, 1994 Internet World address. Templeton argues that internet connectivity should not be mistaken for another dial-up online service. He discusses publishing, news, libraries, advertising, politics, and the ways permanently connected computers might act on behalf of their owners.

Some predictions seem remarkably perceptive. Others, such as the future balance of electronic libraries and commercial publishing, are worth comparing against what actually happened. The point of keeping the speech is that it preserves a contemporary argument rather than a polished prediction written after the result was known.

The homepage also links the satirical Dear Emily Postnews, written as terrible advice on Usenet etiquette: attach gigantic ASCII signatures, cross-post wildly, and start unnecessary flame wars. It is a catalog of the everyday annoyances of the old network.

A separate Ancient Web article already documents Templeton's preservation of a 1978 spam message. This article concerns the wider self-curated archive, where a 1993 electronic science-fiction anthology, news-feed programming tools, personal photography, and technical essays coexist.

That mixture is the historic charm. The person who built the site did not have to separate his software, jokes, publishing, and photography into different platform identities.

Explore Templeton's homepage and the 1994 internet speech.

Part of the Ancient Web Collection.