I’m noting another failure in the online pay-model as The Newspaper Today shuts down. It’s a significant early example of the struggle to monetize digital news through subscriptions rather than free access.
I observed that The Economist redesigned its website to mimic the layout of a physical newspaper, capturing a moment in 2001 when major publications transitioned their print aesthetics to the digital web.
I explored the Forbes list of high-earning dead celebrities, noting Elvis Presley's continued dominance at the top. It is particularly satisfying to see the enduring commercial legacies of creators like Charles Schulz and J.R.R. Tolkien.
The decline of online advertising has killed the free PC and free ISP models, yet free software like the Opera browser continues to succeed, highlighting a divide between ad-supported hardware and open software ecosystems.
I'm documenting the closure of influential early web magazines Feed and Suck. While these staples of 1990s internet culture are shutting down, Plastic remains alive, highlighting the shifting landscape of online publishing and community discussion.
I reflect on the decline of legacy technologies in late 2001, noting the end of the MS-DOS era and the potential downfall of the AltaVista search engine as the web landscape shifts toward newer standards.