HotWired
Encyclopedia
Hotwired was the first commercial web magazine, launched on October 27, 1994. Although it was part of Wired Ventures, Hotwired was a separate entity from Wired
, the print magazine, and had original content.
Andrew Anker, Wired's then Vice President and CTO, wrote the original HotWired business plan. On its approval in April 1994, he became first HotWired's CEO, and oversaw the development of the website. The initial launch staff included Kathleen Lyman, Jonathan Steuer
, Howard Rheingold
, Caleb Donaldson, Rick Boyce
, Brian Behlendorf
, Jeffrey Veen, Chip Bayers, Matthew Nelson, Justin Hall
, Julie Chiron, Gary Wolf, June Cohen
, Jill Atkinson, Will Kreth
, Louis Rossetto
, designers Barbara Kuhr & John Plunkett (Plunkett + Kuhr), Sabine Messner, John Shiple, and Kirt Johnson. Over the next five years several other sites grew out of Hotwired (see below), most notably Wired News, Webmonkey, The Netizen, Suck, and the Wired search engine HotBot.
P + K created a very simple interface initially, to account for the early web's slow speeds and low resolution, with six icons drawn by Amsterdam designer Max Kisman. As web-use grew and faster download speeds allowed higher resolution, Hotwired's interfaces became more complex. After three previous site iterations, HotWired 4.0 launched on July 1, 1997, marking the magazine's most comprehensive overhaul. The reinvention efforts, were led by Executive Producer June Cohen, Executive Editor Cate Corcoran and Senior Designer Sabine Messner. The redesigned site featured Dynamic HTML homepage teasers, more focus on user-centric interaction and a simplified channel structure.
The site launched shortly before Netscape's browser, and the advent of other new media
sites such as Pathfinder.com
(Time Inc.'s commercial web content offering) and Salon.com
(founded by former staffers of the San Francisco Examiner). The initial business model was 'corporate sponsorship', which quickly led to the design of the 'ad banner' display areas still in use today. The first banner ad on the internet was an AT&T ad featured on the site in 1994. The first direct marketing focused ads were sold by David Hyman to Virtual Vineyards.
Other projects and sites published under the Hotwired banner from 1994 to 1999 include:
Wired Ventures' online division was acquired by Lycos, Inc.
in 1999, a year after Condé Nast
acquired Wired Magazine. This essentially marked the end of Hotwired's presence on the Web as Lycos turned the site into an archive. In 2006, Lycos turned the domain into a pay-per-click advertising hub, seemingly marking the definitive end of Hotwired as an online magazine. However, in May 2008, Condé Nast acquired both Webmonkey and the Hotwired domain from Lycos, and Webmonkey was relaunched,
Wired (magazine)
Wired is a full-color monthly American magazine and on-line periodical, published since January 1993, that reports on how new and developing technology affects culture, the economy, and politics...
, the print magazine, and had original content.
Andrew Anker, Wired's then Vice President and CTO, wrote the original HotWired business plan. On its approval in April 1994, he became first HotWired's CEO, and oversaw the development of the website. The initial launch staff included Kathleen Lyman, Jonathan Steuer
Jonathan Steuer
Jonathan Steuer is a pioneer in online publishing.In addition to leading the launch teams of a number of early and influential online publishing ventures , his article "," is widely cited in academic and industry literature...
, Howard Rheingold
Howard Rheingold
-See also:* Collective intelligence* Information society* The WELL* Virtual community-External links:***** at TED conference** a 48MB Quicktime movie, hosted by the Internet Archive...
, Caleb Donaldson, Rick Boyce
Rick Boyce
Rick Boyce was an early marketeer in the commercialization of the World Wide Web.A media buyer with the San Francisco ad agency Hal Riney & Partners, Boyce was recruited by HotWired's chief executive officer, Andrew Anker, to be HotWired's director of business development when the company was...
, Brian Behlendorf
Brian Behlendorf
Brian Behlendorf is a technologist, computer programmer, and an important figure in the open-source software movement. He was a primary developer of the Apache Web server, the most popular web server software on the Internet, and a founding member of the Apache Group, which later became the Apache...
, Jeffrey Veen, Chip Bayers, Matthew Nelson, Justin Hall
Justin Hall
Justin Hall , is an American freelance journalist who is best known as a pioneer blogger , and for writing reviews from game conferences such as E3 as well as the Tokyo Game Show....
, Julie Chiron, Gary Wolf, June Cohen
June Cohen
June Cohen is Executive Producer of TED Media for the TED Conference. She led the effort to bring the conference online, launching the in 2005, the podcast series TEDTalks in 2006, the redesigned in 2007, and the TED Open Translation Project in 2009. Cohen joined the TED staff in 2005...
, Jill Atkinson, Will Kreth
Will Kreth
William E. "Will" Kreth was the first "official" employee of WIRED magazine, hired by its two founders in 1992. He currently resides in New York City....
, Louis Rossetto
Louis Rossetto
Louis Rossetto is an American journalist and "radical libertarian." He is best known as the founder and former publisher of Wired magazine.- Early life and career :Rossetto was born and grew up on Long Island, New York....
, designers Barbara Kuhr & John Plunkett (Plunkett + Kuhr), Sabine Messner, John Shiple, and Kirt Johnson. Over the next five years several other sites grew out of Hotwired (see below), most notably Wired News, Webmonkey, The Netizen, Suck, and the Wired search engine HotBot.
P + K created a very simple interface initially, to account for the early web's slow speeds and low resolution, with six icons drawn by Amsterdam designer Max Kisman. As web-use grew and faster download speeds allowed higher resolution, Hotwired's interfaces became more complex. After three previous site iterations, HotWired 4.0 launched on July 1, 1997, marking the magazine's most comprehensive overhaul. The reinvention efforts, were led by Executive Producer June Cohen, Executive Editor Cate Corcoran and Senior Designer Sabine Messner. The redesigned site featured Dynamic HTML homepage teasers, more focus on user-centric interaction and a simplified channel structure.
The site launched shortly before Netscape's browser, and the advent of other new media
New media
New media is a broad term in media studies that emerged in the latter part of the 20th century. For example, new media holds out a possibility of on-demand access to content any time, anywhere, on any digital device, as well as interactive user feedback, creative participation and community...
sites such as Pathfinder.com
Pathfinder.com
Pathfinder was one of the first Internet portals, initially created as Time Warner's entry onto the Internet. It was supposed to be an all-encompassing site that brought the best content from all of Time-Warner under one banner.The site opened in 1994...
(Time Inc.'s commercial web content offering) and Salon.com
Salon.com
Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
(founded by former staffers of the San Francisco Examiner). The initial business model was 'corporate sponsorship', which quickly led to the design of the 'ad banner' display areas still in use today. The first banner ad on the internet was an AT&T ad featured on the site in 1994. The first direct marketing focused ads were sold by David Hyman to Virtual Vineyards.
Other projects and sites published under the Hotwired banner from 1994 to 1999 include:
- Adrenaline (1994–1996)-Daily Magazine of Alternative Sports developed and edited by Caitlin Pulleyblank. Magazine linked to an Interactive database of play spots on a graphical interface [realtime surf data, climbing data located (latitude/longitude), ultimate teams, mountain bike trails, rafting locations with posted CFS data].
- Animation Express (1998–2002) - Curated collection of animated short films presented in Flash, Shockwave, and QuickTime formats.
- Ask Dr. Weil (1996-1997) - Steven PetrowSteven PetrowSteven Petrow is an American journalist and author who writes frequently on gay and lesbian issues as well as manners and etiquette.-Life and work:...
was the founding editor of Dr. Andrew Weil'sAndrew WeilAndrew Thomas Weil is an American author and physician, who established the field of integrative medicine which attempts to integrate alternative and conventional medicine. Weil is the author of several best-selling books and operates a website and monthly newsletter promoting general health and...
integrative medicine site. - Beta Lounge (1997–1999) - Live DJ channel
- Brain Tennis (1996–1997) - Debate as a spectator's sport
- Cocktail (1996–1997) - Recipes for, history of, and variations on cocktails
- DaveNet (1995–1996) - Dave WinerDave WinerDave Winer is an American software developer, entrepreneur and writer in New York City. Winer is noted for his contributions to outliners, scripting, content management, and web services, as well as blogging and podcasting...
's early developer musings - Dream Jobs (1995–1998) - Inspiring people & company profiles
- Geek of the Week (1997–1998) - Weekly featured member page of HotWired members around the world
- HotBotHotBotHotBot is a web search engine launched in May 1996 by Wired Magazine. It is currently owned by Lycos. HotBot became a popular tool with search results served by the Inktomi database and directory results provided originally by LookSmart and then the Open Directory Project since mid-1999...
(1996–Present) - Search Engine (partnered with InktomiInktomiInktomi Corporation was a California company that provided software for Internet service providers. It was founded in 1996 by UC Berkeley professor Eric Brewer and graduate student Paul Gauthier. The company was initially founded based on the real-world success of the search engine they developed...
) - Intelligent Agent (1995) - Travel through the minds of Rudy Rucker, Randy Shilts, Joshua Quittner, and others.
- Member Pages (1997–1998) - Template-based do-it-yourself homepage profiles of users
- Muckraker (1995–1996) - Brock N. MeeksBrock N. MeeksBrock N. Meeks is an award-winning investigative journalist. He pioneered the field of online journalism and founded one of the preeminent online publications, CyberWire Dispatch, in 1994. At its peak, CyberWire Dispatch was distributed to more than 800,000 readers via mailing lists and newsgroups...
follows the Net from Washington, DC. - Netizen (1996–1997) - The first website to cover a presidential election, featuring daily writing from John Heileman and Jon Katz, edited by David Weir. Where politics, digital culture, and the high-tech industry intersect;
- Net Soup (1995–1996) - Listservs and newsgroup postings.
- Net Surf (1997) - Events of the Net industry.
- Net Surf Central (1995–1996) - An interactive database of the cool Web sites of 1996
- Packet (1997–1998) - Intelligence from the technological frontier, featuring Michael Schrage, Brooke Shelby Biggs, Simson GarfinkelSimson GarfinkelSimson L. Garfinkel is an Associate Professor at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. Garfinkel is regarded as a leader in the fields of Digital forensics and Usable Security...
, Steve Silberman, and Mark FrauenfelderMark FrauenfelderMark Frauenfelder is a blogger, illustrator, and journalist. He is editor-in-chief of MAKE magazine and co-editor of the collaborative weblog Boing Boing. Along with his wife, Carla Sinclair, he founded the bOING bOING print zine in 1988, where he acted as editor until the print version folded in...
) - Piazza (1994–1995) - the first communication forum within HotWired, including "Threads" (conferencing system) and "Club Wired" - (a live, Telnet-based chat system customized by Laura La Gassa - hosted by Will KrethWill KrethWilliam E. "Will" Kreth was the first "official" employee of WIRED magazine, hired by its two founders in 1992. He currently resides in New York City....
,Susanna Camp, and David Hyman - Pop (1995–1996) - Movies, books, art, zines, and personalities, featuring John Alderman, Rob Levine, Ian ChristeIan ChristeIan Christe is an author, disc jockey and publisher. He attended The Clarkson School's Bridging Year and Indiana University....
, and Sarah Borruso. - Renaissance 2.0 (1994–1996) - HotWired's original art and literary channel, managed by Gary Wolf with illustrations by Sabine Messner
- RGB Gallery - Electronic art collection
- Signal (1994–1996) - What did e-commerce, e-politics, and e-culture look like in 1995?
- SuckSuck.comSuck.com was one of the earliest ad-supported content sites on the Internet. It featured daily editorial content on a wide variety of topics, including politics and pop-culture and was targeted at Generation X...
(1995–2001) - Web and media commentary redefining the word 'sarcastic' - Synapse (1997–1998) - Colorful, interactive viewpoints on technology and culture, featuring Jon Katz
- Talk.com (1996–1998) - Live chats and interviews
- Test Patterns (1996) - What HotWired employees did in their spare time
- The Rough Guide (1995—1998) - Online travel library in partnership with Rough Guides
- Web 101 (1997–1999) - Your smart introduction to the Net.
- WebmonkeyWebmonkeyWebmonkey is a popular online tutorial website composed of various articles on building webpages from backend to frontend. The site covers many aspects of developing on the web like programming, database, multimedia, and setting up web storefronts. The content presented is much like Wired magazine...
(1996–2002) - Web programming tips and techniques - World Beat (1994–1995) - Travel
Wired Ventures' online division was acquired by Lycos, Inc.
Lycos
Lycos, Inc. is a search engine and web portal established in 1994. Lycos also encompasses a network of email, webhosting, social networking, and entertainment websites.-Corporate history:...
in 1999, a year after Condé Nast
Condé Nast Publications
Condé Nast, a division of Advance Publications, is a magazine publisher. In the U.S., it produces 18 consumer magazines, including Architectural Digest, Bon Appétit, GQ, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, and Vogue, as well as four business-to-business publications, 27 websites, and more than 50 apps...
acquired Wired Magazine. This essentially marked the end of Hotwired's presence on the Web as Lycos turned the site into an archive. In 2006, Lycos turned the domain into a pay-per-click advertising hub, seemingly marking the definitive end of Hotwired as an online magazine. However, in May 2008, Condé Nast acquired both Webmonkey and the Hotwired domain from Lycos, and Webmonkey was relaunched,
External links
- Hotwired Japan
- Looking back at Hotwired at veen.com (history of interfaces)
- Wired News. Condé Nast Buys Wired News. July 11, 2006.
- Kreth, Will. Personal and Corporate Histories and Heresies. Retrieved 19 April 2005.
- Hall, Justin. Justin Hall @ HotWired. Retrieved 19 April 2005.
- A demo version of the HotWired site from 1995