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Netscape's first commercial browser…which could work onan IBM PC； an Apple Macintosh；
or a Unix computer…was released in December 1994； and within a year it completely
dominated the market。 You could download Netscape for free if you were in education
or a nonprofit。 If you were an individual； you could evaluate the software for free
to your heart's content and buy it on disk if you wanted it。 If you were a company；
you could evaluate the software for ninety days。 〃The underlying rationale；〃 said
Andreessen； 〃was： If you can afford to pay for it； please do so。 If not； use it anyway。〃
Why？ Because all the free usage stimulated a massive growth in the network； which
was valuable to all the paying customers。 It worked。
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We put up the Netscape browser； said barksdale； and people were downloading it for
three…month trials。 I've never seen volume like this。 For big businesses and
government it was allowing them to connect and unlock all their information； and the
point…and…click system that Marc Andreessen invented allowed mere mortals to use it；
not just scientists。 And that made it a true revolution。 And we said； 'This thing
will just grow and grow and grow。'〃
Nothing did stop it； and that is why Netscape played another hugely important
flattening role： It helped make the Internet truly interoperable。 You will recall
that in the Berlin Wall…PC…Windows phase； individuals who had e…mail and companies
that had internal e…mail could not connect very far。 The first Cisco Internet router；
in fact； was built by a husband and wife at Stanford who wanted to exchange e…mail；
one was working off a mainframe and the other on a PC； and they couldn't connect。
〃The corporate networks at the time were proprietary and disconnected from each
other；〃 said Andreessen。 〃Each one had its own formats； data protocols； and different
ways of doing content。 So there were all these islands of information out there that
were disconnected。 And as the Internet emerged as a public； commercial venture； there
was a real danger that it would emerge in the same disconnected way。〃
Joe in the accounting department would get on his office PC and try to get the latest
sales numbers for 1995； but he couldn't do that because the sales department was on
a different system from the one accounting was using。 It was as if one was speaking
German and the other French。 And then Joe would say； 〃Get me the latest shipment
information from Goodyear on what tires they have sent us；〃 and he would find that
Goodyear was using a different system altogether； and the dealer in Topeka was running
yet another system。 Then Joe would go home and find his seventh…grader on the World
Wide Web researching a term paper； using open protocols； and looking at the holdings
of some art museum in France。 And Joe would say； 〃This is crazy。 There has to be one
totally interconnected network。〃
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In the years before the Internet became commercial； explained Andreessen； scientists
developed a series of 〃open protocols〃 meant to make everyone's e…mail system or
university computer network connect seamlessly with everyone else's…to ensure that
no one had some special advantage。 These mathematical…based protocols； which enable
digital devices to talk to each other； were like magical pipes that； once you adopted
them for your network； made you compatible with everyone else； no matter what kind
of computer they were running。 These protocols were （and still are） known by their
alphabet soup names： mainly FTP； HTTP； SSL； SMTP； POP； and TCP/IP。 Together； they
form a system for transporting data around the Internet in a relatively secure manner；
no matter what network your company or household has or what computer or cell phone
or handheld device you are using。 Each protocol had a different function： TCP/IP was
the basic plumbing of the Internet； or the basic railroad tracks； on which everything
else above it was built and moved around。 FTP moved files； SMTP and POP moved e…mail
messages； which became standardized； so that they could be written and read on
different e…mail systems。 HTML was a language that allowed even ordinary people to
author Web pages that anyone with a Web browser could display。 But it was the
introduction of HTTP to move HTML documents around that gave birth to the World Wide
Web as we know it。 Finally； as people began to use these Web pages for electronic
commerce； SSL was created to provide security for Web…based transactions。
As browsing and the Internet in general grew； Netscape wanted to make sure that
Microsoft； with its huge market dominance； would not be able to shift these Web
protocols from open to proprietary standards that only Microsoft's servers would be
able to handle。 〃Netscape helped to guarantee that these open protocols would not
be proprietary by commercializing them for the public；〃 said Andreessen。 〃Netscape
came along not only with the browser but with a family of software products that
implemented all these open standards so that the scientists could communicate with
each other no matter what system they were on…a Cray supercomputer； a Macintosh； or
a PC。 Netscape was able to provide a real reason for everyone to say； 'I want to be
on open standards for everything I do and for
all the systems I work on。' Once we created a way to browse the Internet； people wanted
a universal way to access what was out there。 So anyone who wanted to work on open
standards went to Netscape； where we supported them； or they went to the open…source
world and got the same standards for free but unsupported； or they went to their
private vendors and said； 'I am not going to buy your proprietary stuff anymore 。。。
I am not going to sign up to your walled garden anymore。 I am only going to stay with
you if you interconnect to the Internet with these open protocols。'〃
Netscape began pushing these open standards through the sale of its browsers； and
the public responded enthusiastically。 Sun started to do the same with its servers；
and Microsoft started to do the same with Windows 95； considering browsing so critical
that it famously built its own browser directly into Windows with the addition of
Internet Explorer。 Each realized that the public； which suddenly could not get enough
of e…mail and browsing； wanted the Internet companies to work together and create
one interoperable network。 They wanted companies to compete with each other over
different applications； that is； over what consumers could do once they were on the
Internet…not over how they got on the Internet in the first place。 As a result； after
quite a few 〃format wars〃 among the big companies； by the late 1990s the Internet
computing platform became seamlessly integrated。 Soon anyone was able to connect with
anyone else anywhere on any machine。 It turned out that the value of compatibility
was much higher for everyone than the value of trying to maintain your own little
walled network。 This integration was a huge flattener； because it enabled so many
more people to get connected with so many more other people。
There was no shortage of skeptics at the time； who said that none of this would work
because it was all too complicated； recalled Andreessen。 'Tou had to go out and get
a PC and a dial…up modem。 The skeptics all said； 'It takes people a long time to change
their habits and learn a new technology。' ＇But＇ people did it very quickly； and ten
years later there were eight hundred million people on the Internet。〃 The reason？
〃People will change their habits quickly when they have a strong reason to do so；
and people have an innate urge to connect with other people；〃
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said Andreessen。 〃And when you give people a new way to connect with other people；
they will punch through any technical barrier； they will learn new languages…people
are wired to want to connect with other people and they find it objectionable not
to be able to。 That is what Netscape unlocked。〃 As Joel Cawley； IBM's vice president
of corporate strategy； put it； 〃Netscape created a standard around how data would
be transported and rendered on the screen that was so simple and compelling that anyone
and everyone could innovate on top of it。 It quickly scaled around the world and to
everyone from kids to corporations。〃
In the summer of 1995； Barksdale and his Netscape colleagues went on an old…fashioned
road show with their investment bankers from Morgan Stanley to try to entice investors
around the country to buy Netscape stock once it went public。 〃When we went out on
the road；〃 said Barksdale； 〃Morgan Stanley said the stock could sell for as high as
14。 But after the road show got going； they were getting such demand for the stock；
they decidedto double the openingprice to 28。 The last afternoon before the offering；
we were all in Maryland。 It was our last stop。 We had this caravan of black limousines。
We looked like some kind of Mafia group。 We needed to be in touch with Morgan Stanley
＇headquarters＇； but we were somewhere where our cell phones didn't work。 So we pulled
into these two filling stations across from each other； all th