Time Traveller Notes From 1996
I set up my first digital agency way back in 1996.
To put the progress since then into context, there was no Google, no Facebook, no iPod or iPhone and connecting to the Internet was by a loud totem with the blistering speed of up to 256 bpms (or some acronymn).
I have recently been going through a huge pile of items left to me by my dear departed mum. Amongst the fast-track compendium of photos of schools, first girlfriends, flats, houses, and relations now lost to the sands of time was a document that I wrote in 1996 to give to prospective clients. Whilst email existed it was a print document as sending attachments was still a tricky business as Gmail or even Hotmail didn’t exist.
The document starts with some interesting facts to highlight the crazy possibilities of the WWW including this quote from Goldman Sachs
‘Claiming that the web is to the Internet what Microsoft Windows was to the growth of the personal computer, Goldman Sachs predicts that the number of paying customers with access to the web will grow from less than a million in 1994 to more than nine million by the end of 1995 and to 25 million by 1997’
Part of the document was titled ‘Considerations when Going Online’ and was meant to provide some basic guidelines on what was good practice and how to structure your approach. There were 8 main points
A Good Online Service Should
Be aimed at a specific audience
Have content that changes frequently
Be graphically attractive
Allow for easy, fast access
Provide opportunities for users to communicate with one another and with you
Build on the success of existing products by complementing them, rather than replicating them.
Incorporate or point to additional content relevant to the audience
Provide value-added opportunities for advertisers and sponsors.
I had completely forgotten about producing the document, but on re-reading it I’m struck by how prescient the advice was and continues to be. Though there are a few more advisories to add to the list now..
