PBS’s Triumph of the Nerds (chronicling the birth of the PC) had a profound effect on me back in 1995 – similar to The Social Network.  Tonight I re-watched its sequel, Nerds 2.0.1, for the first time since 1998 when it originally aired. Once again hosted by Bob Cringley, Nerds 2.0.1 describes the rise of the internet and the web. But man…watching it in late 2010 is a VERY different vantage point from watching it in 1998.



While the historical accounts within the 3 part series will always remain the same, it was the 1997/1998 “present day” snapshot in time that floored me. What was, then, an unwritten future is, now, written history:

• It is cited that 100 million people use the internet


• Amazon.com is featured as a “virtual bookstore” that has yet to turn a profit


• While a search engine is defined, there's no mention of Google as it doesn’t exist


• Eric Schmidt is interviewed, except he’s the Chairman & CEO of Novell


• The explosive growth of Excite is prominently profiled & is at the top of its game


• One of the Excite founders bought a cell phone: A Motorola Startak


• Online advertising is emerging & forecasted to be a $2 billion industry come 1999


• Netscape Navigator is the dominant browser and is battling with Internet Explorer


• Microsoft is profiled as a giant force while Apple is fighting to stay alive


• Modems are our connection to the internet yet 80% of Americans are NOT online

We, of course, all know now how things turned out. And while Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Foursquare, Ustream, Boxee, and Groupon were still many years from existence (with lots of stuff in between, like the Y2k craze and dotcom collapse) today, it is their futures that are unwritten. How will we look back on the rising internet companies of 2010, twelve years from now?

Sometimes taking a look back at the past helps us in the present to focus on creating the future.

Mike originally posted this on his blog Harmonic Aftershock.