Brief History of the Internet and Web Audio

Read the timeline below to get a sense of the history of the Internet and the development of audio on the Web. See http://www.dejavu.org/ for a fascinating peak at how the Web looked on early Web browsers.

1969

U.S. Defense Department's ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency) project. ARPA was a Pentagon agency that sought to design a network that could withstand partial destruction and still function. Academic computer scientists were hired to develop the network, which was launched in 1969 with four nodes, or sites: the University of California at Los Angeles; the University of California, Santa Barbara; Stanford Research Institute; and the University of Utah.

1971

By 1971, ARPANET had expanded to 23 sites.

1979

USENET News network is created for academic researchers who lacked the necessary clearance to use the Defense Department's ARPANET.

1980

By 1980, ARPANET had expanded to more than 200 sites. Local area networks began to proliferate in universities, businesses, and corporations. The desire to link these networks began to grow.

Early 1980s

The National Science Foundation (NSF) built five supercomputer centers to give any academic researcher access to high-powered computers. The NSF built its own network, based on internet protocol (IP) technology (based on the ARPANET technology), to connect the five centers. Individual university networks were now linked. Soon the network connections were being used for other purposes, such as email.

1985

The National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA), at the Champaign-Urbana campus of the University of Illinois, was one of the supercomputing facilities built by the NSF. NCSA began to create tools, such as telnet, ftp, and gopher browsers, to assist people in using the internet.

1990

Tim Berners-Lee, working on a NeXT computer for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), developed the first Web browser called WorldWideWeb. The name of this browser has become synonymous with the Web as a whole. Berners-Lee finished the browser on Christmas day in 1990. He developed a standard file format called HTML that consisted of plain text marked up with special tags to tell a web browser how to display the content.

1991

In March of 1991 Berners-Lee released WorldWideWeb to the scientists at CERN to help them share ideas. Almost all content on the Web is text at this time. Most persons who use the Web at this point are running text-only Web browsers on UNIX workstations.

Many universities and other institutions use the gopher, a fore-runner to the Web and the first truly distributed information system on the Internet.

1992

By 1992, several text-only Web browsers were available for UNIX workstations, PCs running DOS, and Macintosh computers.

1993

In February of 1993, Marc Andreessen and Eric Bina from NCSA released Mosaic, the first graphical web browser, to the public for free. Mosaic ran on UNIX workstations running the X-Windows graphical shell. A few months later, a version was released for Macintosh computers. Mosaic included support for sound in Sun Microsystem's 8-bit AU format.

The Lynx hypertext browser developed at the University of Kansas is modified by student Lou Montulli in March of 1993 to allow it to display documents found on the Internet. Lynx becomes the preferred software for text-only Web browsing and it is still used today.

1994

NCSA Mosaic increases in popularity and Web authors begin to add graphics to their pages in GIF format. A few sounds are made available for download in Sun Microsystem's AU format or Microsoft's WAV format. At this time, Sun's 8-bit AU format is the most prevalent sound format on the Web because of the high number of UNIX workstations at Universities. These sounds take minutes to download using the high-speed connections available at universities but they take hours to download on the 9600 bps modems used by everyone else. The graphics and text, however, are enough to excite the imagination of the public and the Web becomes very popular very quickly.

Netscape Navigator 1.0 is released in December of 1994. It was also known as Mozilla 1.0.

1995

By 1995 the web was the fastest-growing service on the Internet. CERN passed the mantle of web development to INRIA (the Institut National pour la Recherche en Informatique et Automatique), in France. INRIA is the European division of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) based at MIT in the United States. The W3C maintains the standards for the web. The most pervasive web standard is HTML (Hypertext Markup Language). HTML (now XHTML) is the language used to create web pages like the one you are reading now. Netscape's new Navigator web browser quickly overtakes NCSA Mosaic in popularity.

The JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) format for high-quality photographs becomes popular and the Web becomes more graphically rich. Universities and then businesses begin to create promotional Web sites. Individuals start to create home pages. E-mail becomes the killer application of the 20th century. Chat rooms abound. Online bulletin board systems and mailing lists enter the mainstream of popular culture.

Macromedia Director, an established development environment for CD-ROM production since 1988, gives birth to Shockwave. Shockwave allows playback of Director files over the Web. The size of the plugin and the size of the Shockwave files are both impediments to the success of Shockwave.

A young programmer named Jonathan Gay creates a program called FutureSplash Animator and establishes a company called FutureWave. The company will later be purchased by Macromedia and this program will become Flash. Read Jonathan Gay's story of the development of Flash at http://www.adobe.com/macromedia/events/john_gay/

In April, Progressive Networks Launches RealAudio at National Association of Broadcasters Conference in Las Vegas. Rob Glaser, President of Progressive Networks, discusses RealAudio.

Netscape Navigator 1.1 is released in April of 1995.
Netscape Navigator 2.0 is released in beta form in Fall of 1995.

On August 23, 1995, Windows 95 is released and contains a Web browser of its own called Internet Explorer 1.0.

1996

RealNetworks introduced RealAudio. Streaming audio becomes possible on the Web. The quality is not great. The sound is monophonic and the fidelity is compared to AM radio. Audio lectures become popular on the Web but music doesn't sound good enough for most listeners to enjoy. Apple Computer releases the QuickTime plugin for QuickTime 2.0. This plugin works with Netscape Navigator and allows authors to embed compressed audio and video content on a Web page. Netscape releases its own LiveAudio plugin for Netscape Navigator 3.0. This offers Web authors a way to embed audio on Web pages and the plugin is scriptable using JavaScript.

FutureSplash Animator is released in the summer of 1996. Microsoft and Disney both sign up as clients of FutureWave to create more impressive Web sites for their companies. In December of 1996, FutureWave is acquired by Macromedia and FutureSplash Animator is renamed Flash 1.0. Flash 1.0 has no programming language and no sound, but objects within the Flash presentation can be hyperlinked to allow for some interactivity. Flash becomes popular for two-dimensional linear animations, especially banner ads.

In April, Progressive Networks releases RealAudio 2.0 with better sound quality (though still only monophonic), browser integration with Netscape, an open architecture to allow other developers to work with RealAudio, bandwidth detection, and firewall support.

In September, RealAudio 3.0 debuts with new features including stereo audio over 28.8 kbps modems and near CD-quality sound at higher bandwidths. New content providers include leading music labels Sony, Warner, Polygram, BMG and MCA and national broadcasting companies including CBS Radio, NBC, ABC and the CBC.

In October, Progressive Networks, Netscape, and 40 other companies announce support for a proposed standard for delivery of real-time media over the Internet and intranets. The new standard is to be called Real Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP).

Netscape Navigator 2.0 is released in March of 1996.

Internet Explorer 2.0 on Windows begins to add features to compete with Netscape Navigator. At this point Navigator is clearly the better browser but Internet Explorer gains market share simply because it is given away for free by Microsoft. Updates to both browsers were frequent during 1996.

Internet Explorer 2.0 for Macintosh is released in April of 1996.
Netscape Navigator 3.0 is released in August of 1996.
Internet Explorer 3.0 for Windows is released in August of 1996.

Internet Explorer Browser market share estimate in Fall of 1996 is 33%.

1997

QuickTime and RealAudio increase the quality of compressed audio that can streamed to Web visitors. RealVideo is introduced in February. In September, Progressive Networks changes its name to RealNetworks and makes RealPlayer 4.0 available. RealPlayer 4.0 plays both audio and video streams. RealPlayer 5.0 is released in November. RealSystem 5.0 is a client-server streaming media system that includes RealPlayers, RealServers, and publishing tools. RealSystem 5.0 provides a suite of high quality, cross platform products for viewing and delivering real-time multimedia over the Internet and corporate intranets. Features include full-screen video, integration of Flash animations and commerce features such as advertisement insertion and pay-per-view.

Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser begins to attract interest because it is free. Microsoft begins to include Windows Media Player with the browser. Flash 2.0 adds support for streaming sound.

Netscape Navigator 4 is the current Netscape offering and its share of the browser market has diminished to less than 50%. Web developers no longer feel comfortable developing pages that rely on the LiveAudio plugin because Internet Explorer 4.0 does not support it.

The Mosaic browser reaches version 3 and is then discontinued.
Internet Explorer 3.0 for Macintosh is released in January of 1997.
Netscape Navigator 4.0 is released in June of 1997.
Internet Explorer 4.0 for Windows is released in October of 1997.

1998

Apple licenses new compression technology from Sorenson Vision Inc, QDesign Corporation (music compressor) and Qualcomm (Pure Voice compressor) for use in QuickTime 3.0. Roland Corporation's Sound Canvas sound set is also included, providing over 200 MIDI-compatible sounds and instruments. QuickTime 3 can play back more than 30 different audio and video file formats and offers real-time streaming of digital content over the Internet. Flash 3 adds more interactivity through pre-set behaviors. No scripting language is available for Flash at this time.

In April, RealNetworks announces support for the W3C's proposed standard called Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language (SMIL). In July, RealNetworks releases RealSystem G2. The new RealPlayer G2 software has better codecs for music and more reliable streaming technology for uncertain network conditions. The software has one-button access to favorite programming from more than 50 leading media content providers. RealSystem G2 also includes native support for most existing media file formats on the Web including ASF, AVI, JPEG, MPEG, VIV, and WAV. RealNetworks advertises its support of open standards such as SMIL and RTSP.

Netscape releases its browser code to open source and makes its Communicator suite of browser and e-mail software freely available to the public. The Mozilla project begins work on an open-source, standards-compliant Web browser.

Internet Explorer 4.0 for Macintosh is released in January of 1998.
Netscape Navigator/Communicator 4.5 is released in October of 1998.

1999

QuickTime 4.0 is released. Streaming is improved and support for MP3, SMIL, and other formats is added. More than 5 million people download QuickTime 4 during the first 50 days after its release. Content providers take notice. Soon movie trailers and news are available in large numbers on the Web using QuickTime. Apple and Akamai create a high-quality network for Internet streaming. Flash 4 now supports MP3 streaming and can play QuickTime movies with QuickTime sound compression. In turn, QuickTime 4 can play Flash SWF files. Sweet!

In May, RealNetworks announces RealJukeBox, the first complete digital music system for the Internet. When consumers listen to an audio CD from the CD-ROM drive of their PC while connected to the Internet, the RealJukebox will reach out to the CDDB database and automatically download the name of the artist, album and song to the desktop. CDDB's DRS identifies over 360,000 CD album titles, making it by far the largest online CD information source in the world. In November, RealPlayer 7 is released with performance and navigation improvements and better support for MP3 files.

Internet Explorer 4.5 for Macintosh is released in January of 1999.
Internet Explorer 5.0 for Windows is released in March of 1999.

Internet Explorer Browser market share at end of 1999 is more than 50%.

2000

QuickTime downloads exceed 100 million. Apple releases Darwin Streaming Server as an open source initiative. Many new streaming servers are added to the Internet using this free software. Apple and RealNetworks announce a collaboration for Internet streaming. RealNetworks and Apple also agree to support the principles of the “Ask, Tell, Help” initiative, which promotes good ‘Internet manners’ by ensuring that each company’s player applications will inform and ask the user before changing the user’s default player selection for common media formats.

Flash 5 is released with a major overhaul of the scripting language, ActionScript. It now becomes possible to build extremely interactive audio applications such as mixers, interactive music analysis, mousejam type improvisation environments, music drills, and complex games.

Netscape 6 is released. The browser model and LiveAudio plugin from version 4.x of Netscape is completely abandoned in favor of support for standard technologies endorsed by the W3C.

RealAudio 8.0 is released by RealNetworks providing CD quality sound at 64Kbps – half the size of MP3.

Internet Explorer 5.0 for Macintosh is released in March of 2000.
Netscape Navigator 6.0 is released in November of 2000.
Internet Explorer 5.5 for Windows is released in July of 2000.

Flash is well-established as a complete multimedia development environment with 500,000 developers and 250 million users of the player.

2001

QuickTime 5 is released and more than 100 million downloads are recorded during 2001. CNN, NPR, HBO, ESPN Radio, The Cartoon Network, Disney, Warner Bros., Honda, General Motors, Nokia, and many other companies adopt QuickTime for delivery of audio and video content on the Web.

In September, RealNetworks unveils RealOne Platform, an integrated media platform for connecting consumers to content. At the core of the platform is its media engine, RealOne Player, which combines the RealPlayer and RealJukebox and adds to them a new media browser.

Internet Explorer 6.0 for Windows is released in October of 2001.

2002

QuickTime 6 is released in July and surpasses 100 million downloads in less than one year. QuickTime 6 is chosen as the basis for the MPEG-4 open standard.

Flash MX adds support for integrated video within Flash using Sorenson compression. A number of pre-designed components make it easier to design interactive audio applications with sliders, knobs, check boxes, and buttons.

Netscape 7 is released and is, arguably, the most standards-compliant browser available. Mozilla also releases its 1.0 browser based on much the same code-base as Netscape. Internet Explorer 5 and 6 are the most popular Web browsers in use, however, because each is bundled with a version of Microsoft Windows.

Netscape Navigator 7.0 is released in August of 2002.
Phoenix, a new browser by Mozilla, is made public on September 23, 2002
Apple's new Safari browser is added to MacOS X.

2003

Apple revolutionizes the online music world by releasing iTunes Music Store for Macintosh in Spring 2003 and for Windows in October of 2003. Apple succeeds in addressing the intellectual property concerns of the recording industry and creates an attractive and inexpensive way for consumers to buy audio tracks and burn them to CDs. Apple pioneers the use of AAC (advanced audio codec) format to limit the distribution of digital audio files and protect the interests of copyright holders while giving consumers the freedom to store and play their music files on multiple devices. In Fall of 2003 competitors begin to adopt the iTunes model.

Director MX is released with more integration of Flash SWF files. The SequenceXtra plugin allows for interactive MIDI on the Web using Director MX but it is not reliable and consistent yet on all platforms. Flash MX 2004 adds more support for data driven Web sites and more pre-built components.

In August, RealNetworks acquires Listen.com and its Rhapsody digital music service providing additional competition to iTunes Music Store.

Microsoft releases Windows Media Player 9 with smart jukebox features, easy CD transfer to computer, CD burning, and compatibility a range of portable players with the notable exception of the iPod, the most popular portable music player.

Microsoft stops development of Internet Explorer for Macintosh.
Safari becomes a popular Web browser on Mac OSX.
Internet Explorer market share is near 95%.
Phoenix browser changes name to Firebird, then Firefox for beta release.

2004

The web has become the dominant platform for the delivery of information worldwide. The pace at which homes and schools get connected to the internet continues to increase rapidly. More and more educational content and interactive learning experiences are becoming available on the web. Sound, animation, and video use on the internet is increasing rapidly as high-speed connections are installed worldwide. As the web becomes more of a multimedia environment, the applications of the web to music education become more attractive.

Firefox captures substantial market share while still in beta. The official 1.0 release takes place on November 8, 2004.

Browser Market Share Summary for January 2005 (see http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp for the latest)

2005

Blogging, file sharing, and dynamic pages are now normal parts of everyday web experience. More and more tools such as quia.com, youtube.com, myspace.com, and blogger.com are allowing the general public to contribute substantial content to the Internet.

Adobe purchases Macromedia. During the transition, Macromedia releases Studio 8 containing new versions of Flash, Dreamweaver, and Fireworks. Adobe begins to integrate the Macromedia product line into its own offerings.

Firefox gains in popularity. The slow, steady decline of market share for Internet Explorer continues.

Browser Market Share Summary for March 2005 (see http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp for the latest)

2006

Microsoft stops development of Windows Media Player for Macintosh and enters into an agreement with codex vendor Flip4Mac to provide a codex to allow QuickTime player to play Windows Media files.

YouTube becomes a major player in distributing video and audio performances of both amateur and professional musicians. These are distributed in the FLV video format pioneered by Adobe using Sorenson video compression and MP3 audio compression.

2007

Browser market share constantly fluctuates but Firefox is becoming more popular due to its security advantages and its plugin, extensible architecture. Most Windows users still use Internet Explorer because it comes pre-installed but more sophisticated users increasingly switch to Firefox on Windows to avoid contracting viruses and spyware. With 36% market share for Firefox, developers across the world are forced to avoid Internet technologies that only work with Internet Explorer. This is very good news for standards development and for audio on the web.

Browser Market Share Summary for November 2007 (see http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp for the latest)

Online sales of music continue to grow at a healthy pace compared to a 15.3% drop in retail sales of physical CDs in 2007 when compared with sales from 2006. Small bands and solo performers are increasingly taking their music and digital audio files directly to consumers through MySpace.com pages, YouTube, and other Web 2.0 venues. If you are a performer and you are not using the Internet to publicize your work and meet your listeners then you are missing an important part of your success potential.