Title :
Before the Web There Was Gopher
Author :
Frana, Philip L.
Author_Institution :
Charles Babbage Institute
Abstract :
The World Wide Web, universally well known today, was preceded by an efficient software tool that was fondly named Gopher. The Internet Gopher, much like the Web, enabled users to obtain information quickly and easily. Why, then, did it disappear but the Web did not? Gopher faded into obscurity for two main reasons: hypertext and commerce.
Keywords :
Internet; electronic commerce; history; hypermedia; information retrieval; Internet Gopher; World Wide Web; commerce; hypertext; software tool; Application software; Business; Displays; Information management; Information retrieval; Protocols; Software systems; Web and internet services; Web server; Web sites;
Journal_Title :
Annals of the History of Computing, IEEE
DOI :
10.1109/MAHC.2004.1278848
