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Internet Culture
75 posts filed under Internet Culture.
- Is SkyMall Still Around in 2026? Yes, Online OnlySkyMall is still around in 2026 as an online store. C&A Marketing bought the bankrupt in-flight catalog at auction in 2015 for $1.9 million.
- Is Homestar Runner Still Updating? The Site in 2026Homestar Runner is still updating in 2026, just not weekly. The site launched January 1, 2000 and now runs on Ruffle instead of Flash.
- Who Owns eToys.com Now? Toys R Us Bought the NameToys R Us has owned eToys.com since February 2009, paying a reported $2.15 million. The original eToys died in 2001, two years after a $76 IPO pop.
- Broadcast.com: The $5.7 Billion Site Yahoo Shut DownYahoo bought Broadcast.com for $5.7 billion in 1999 and closed the service by 2002. The company had booked $22.4 million of revenue in 1998.
- EverQuest in 2026: The 1999 MMO That Still RunsEverQuest is still active in 2026: Darkpaw Games runs the 1999 MMO, and a new server called Lethar opened on August 26, 2026.
- Is Angelfire Still Online? Lycos Closed It in 2026Angelfire is not still online. Lycos took the free web host down on April 24, 2026, after a January outage and 30 days of notice.
- Is Toonami Still On TV in 2026? Yes, on Adult SwimToonami is still on TV in 2026: Adult Swim airs it Saturdays, midnight to 4 a.m. ET. Cartoon Network killed it in 2008 and a 2012 prank revived it.
- Is Photobucket Still Around? Why Your Photos VanishedPhotobucket is still around in 2026, but only as paid storage: free accounts ended in June 2023 and plans now start at $5 a month for 1TB.
- Does Yahoo Messenger Still Exist? Why It Shut DownYahoo Messenger does not exist: Oath shut it down on July 17, 2018 after 20 years. Its replacement, Yahoo Together, lasted until April 4, 2019.
- Can You Still Get Dial-Up Internet? NetZero DoesCan you still get dial-up internet? Yes. NetZero, Juno and Microsoft's MSN all sell it in 2026, a year after AOL shut its dialer for good.
- When Did Netflix Stop Mailing DVDs? The Last DiscNetflix stopped mailing DVDs on September 29, 2023, after 25 years and 5.2 billion discs. The last red envelope held a Blu-ray of True Grit.
- Dial-Up Sound Explained: What Each Screech MeantThe dial-up sound was two modems measuring a phone line: answer tone, capability menus, a 21-tone probe. AOL switched it off on September 30, 2025.
- Is Habbo Hotel Still Around? The Pixel Hotel in 2026Habbo Hotel is still online in 2026, run by Sulake and owned by Azerion, with 300 million registered accounts and a 2005 replica running next door.
- Does Yahoo Answers Still Exist? Why It Shut DownYahoo Answers does not still exist. It went read-only on April 20, 2021 and closed on May 4, 2021, 15 years after launch. Here is what survived.
- Who Owns Napster in 2026? Every Owner Since 2001Napster is owned by Napster Corporation, formerly Infinite Reality, which paid $207 million in 2025 and killed the music service on January 1, 2026.
- Who Was the AOL 'You've Got Mail' Voice? Elwood EdwardsElwood Edwards recorded AOL's 'You've Got Mail' on a living room cassette in 1989 and was paid $200 once. He died in 2024, and AOL still plays it.
- Is RuneScape Still Popular in 2026? OSRS vs RS3Is RuneScape still popular? Old School RuneScape peaked above 240,000 players at once in 2025, roughly eight times RuneScape 3. Here is who owns Jagex.
- Is MySpace Still Around? What Is Left of the SiteIs MySpace still around? Yes, myspace.com is online in 2026 and owned by Viant Technology. But a 2019 server migration erased 50 million songs.
- Is Netscape Still Around? What Happened After AOLIs Netscape still around? The browser died in 2008, netscape.com redirects to AOL, and the trademark is still live under a new owner as of 2026.
- Does AOL Still Exist? What You Get for $10 a MonthDoes AOL still exist? Yes. Italy's Bending Spoons bought it for about $1.5 billion in January 2026, and dial-up died on September 30, 2025.
- Why the NSA Banned Furby: The 1998 Toy Craze ExplainedFurby sold 1.8 million units in its first holiday season, hit $100 on the resale market, and got banned from NSA headquarters in January 1999. Here is why.
- Is HyperCard Still Around? Apple Killed It in 2004Apple pulled HyperCard from sale in March 2004, but its stacks still boot in a browser at the Internet Archive. Here is where it went and why.
- The First Banner Ad of 1994: What AT&T Really PaidThe first banner ad ran on HotWired on October 27, 1994. AT&T paid about $30,000 for 12 weeks and got a reported 44 percent click rate.
- What Happened to Geocaching, the GPS Treasure Hunt That Started With a Bucket and a Can of BeansWhen the US military stopped degrading civilian GPS signals on May 1, 2000, a hobbyist in Oregon hid a bucket in the woods the next day. That bucket became geocaching, a 3-million-cache, 191-country platform with a 25-year run.
- theGlobe.com Today: The 606% IPO That Left a ShelltheGlobe.com is now an empty shell company with no employees and $15,115 in cash. Its 1998 IPO closed up 606 percent, a record that still stands.
- What Happened to Excite, the Search Engine That Turned Down Google for $750,000In 1999, Excite was worth $35 billion and had the chance to buy Google for $750,000. CEO George Bell said no. The full story is more complicated, and a lot more interesting, than the punchline suggests.
- What Happened to PointCast and the 1990s Push Technology BoomIn 1997, News Corporation offered $450 million for a company that delivered headlines through a screensaver. Two years later it sold for $7 million. The full story of push technology's rise and collapse.
- What Happened to TechTV and The Screen Savers ChannelZDTV launched in 1998. Comcast killed it in less than a year after the 2004 G4 merger. Here is how a cable channel built for nerds disappeared, and where its hosts went.
- What Happened to Wine.com and the Internet Wine WarsThree companies burned through more than $200M trying to sell wine online between 1995 and 2001. The smallest one ended up owning the Wine.com domain.
- What Happened to NCSA Mosaic, the Browser That Built the World Wide WebBefore Netscape, before Internet Explorer, there was Mosaic. The browser two students built at a public university in 1993 became the front door to the early web, then quietly disappeared while reshaping the next thirty years of the internet.
- What Happened to Prodigy, the Online Service That Beat AOL to AmericaBefore AOL, before the web, two of the biggest companies in America spent over a billion dollars trying to teach the country how to go online. Prodigy got there first, then lost everything.
- What Happened to Xanga, the Blog Platform Before Blogging Was CoolXanga had 27 million users before most people knew what a blog was. Then it vanished. The real story involves a $1 million FTC fine, a failed crowdfunding campaign, and the rise of Facebook.
- What Happened to StarCraft, the Game That Invented EsportsHow a real-time strategy game from 1998 accidentally built a billion-dollar esports industry, turned South Korean teenagers into national celebrities, and changed competitive gaming forever.
- What Happened to Tumblr, the Platform Yahoo Bought for a Billion and Sold for PenniesYahoo paid $1.1 billion for Tumblr in 2013. Six years later, Verizon sold it to Automattic for $3 million. Here's the full story of how a culture platform got killed by the companies that owned it.
- What Happened to LiveJournal, the Platform That Invented Modern BloggingLiveJournal had 18 million users and invented friends lists, access controls, and communities years before Facebook existed. Then its servers moved to Russia overnight.
- What Happened to WebTV, the Box That Promised Internet for EveryoneIn 1996, three former Apple engineers built a $325 box that let people browse the web on their televisions. Microsoft paid $425 million for it. By 2013, it was gone.
- What Happened to Flickr, the Photo Site Yahoo Left to DieFlickr once hosted nearly 2 billion photos and defined photo-sharing for a generation. Then Yahoo acquired it, removed the features that made it special, and left it to rot while Instagram ate its lunch.
- What Happened to IRC, the Chat Protocol That Built the InternetCreated in 1988 by a Finnish computer science student, IRC kept the internet connected during the Gulf War and became home to millions of users. But Discord and Slack made it obsolete.
- What Happened to Eudora, the Email Client That Taught the Internet to WriteEudora dominated email in the 1990s with 18 million users and dominated revenue. Gmail and webmail killed desktop email clients. Here's how the world's most popular email software disappeared.
- Newgrounds Is Still Online in 2026, 31 Years LaterNewgrounds is still online in 2026, owned and run by founder Tom Fulp, funded by supporters from $36 a year, with its Flash archive kept alive by Ruffle.
- What Happened to BonziBuddy, the Internet's Friendliest SpywareThe purple gorilla that harvested your data. How BonziBuddy went from desktop companion to FTC settlement, and what it reveals about early internet trust.
- What Happened to Kazaa and the P2P Wars After NapsterKazaa became the most downloaded software on Earth, survived where Napster couldn't, and still lost everything. The full story of the P2P wars.
- What Happened to Club Penguin, Disney's Accidental MMOHow three guys in Kelowna, BC built a virtual world that captured 200 million kids, sold to Disney for $350 million, and then vanished entirely.
- What Happened to Neopets, the Virtual World That Raised a GenerationFrom 150 million accounts and $160 million acquisitions to corporate neglect and a management buyout. The full story of how Neopets rose, fell, and tried to come back.
- Is Lycos Still Around in 2026? Who Owns It NowLycos is still online in 2026 as a small portal owned through Brightcom Group. Terra Networks paid $12.5 billion for it; Ybrant paid $36 million.
- Is Craigslist Still Around in 2026? Who Owns It NowCraigslist is still online in 2026 and still owned by Craig Newmark and Jim Buckmaster, but revenue fell from $1.034 billion to $302 million.
- Who Owns CompuServe Now? Yahoo Runs the PortalCompuServe survives as a news portal owned by Yahoo. The dial-up service ended in 2009 and the forums closed on December 15, 2017.
- Why Boo.com Failed and Who Owns the Domain NowBoo.com burned $135 million in 18 months and collapsed on 18 May 2000. Hostelworld holds the domain now, bought out of a $375,000 fire sale.
- Why Google Reader Died and What Replaced It in 2026Google Reader shut down on July 1, 2013 so Google could push Google+. Feedly and Inoreader took over, and 100,000 petition signatures changed nothing.
- Is Excite@Home Still Around? AT&T Took the NetworkExcite@Home is gone. It filed for Chapter 11 in September 2001 and AT&T took the network for $307 million, about one percent of its $35 billion peak.
- Is AOL Time Warner Still a Company? What Is LeftAOL Time Warner stopped existing in 2009. AOL is being sold to Bending Spoons for $1.5 billion; Warner Bros. Discovery holds the rest.
- Is Kozmo.com Still Around? The Brand's Fate in 2026Kozmo.com died in April 2001 after a $280 million loss. Los Angeles grocer Yummy Foods owns the name now, and the site has been dark since 2023.
- Did Amazon Almost Go Bankrupt in the Dot-Com Crash?Amazon never went bankrupt, but it came close: a Lehman analyst gave it four quarters of cash. A $672 million bond bought the time it needed.
- Is eBay Still Around in 2026? 135 Million BuyerseBay is still around in 2026: a public Nasdaq company with 135 million buyers and $79.6 billion sold in 2025. It started with a broken laser pointer.
- Is Friendster Still Around? It Came Back in 2026Friendster deleted every profile in 2011 and shut down in 2015, but the name relaunched in April 2026 as an app with no ads and no algorithm.
- Does AltaVista Still Exist? Yahoo Closed It in 2013AltaVista no longer exists: Yahoo closed the search engine on July 8, 2013. Apollo-owned Yahoo still holds the domain that sold for $140 million in 2003.
- Is ICQ Still Around? VK Shut It Down in June 2024ICQ shut down on June 26, 2024 after 28 years, and VK still owns the name. Free NINA servers now run ICQ 2000 through ICQ 8 clients.
- Does Ask Jeeves Still Exist? Ask.com Closed in 2026Ask Jeeves became Ask.com, lost the butler in 2006, quit building its own search engine in 2010, and closed for good on May 1, 2026.
- Is Digg Still Around in 2026? Yes, as an AI SiteDigg still exists in 2026, but as an AI news aggregator run by Kevin Rose, not a Reddit rival. The relaunched app shut down on March 14, 2026.
- Is Second Life Still Around in 2026? Yes, 23 Years LaterSecond Life is still running in 2026, 23 years after launch, with daily concurrency in the mid-30,000s and an economy near $650 million a year.
- Who Owns MTV Now, and Does It Still Play Music?MTV is still on the air in 2026 and owned by Paramount Skydance, but its last five music-only channels went dark on December 31, 2025.
- Is Encarta Still Available? Why Microsoft Killed ItMicrosoft Encarta is gone: disc sales ended in June 2009 and MSN Encarta closed October 31, 2009. What replaced it, and how to run it now.
- Is RealPlayer Still Around? Yes, Free From Real.comRealPlayer still exists: RealNetworks shipped version 25 in 2026 and still gives it away free, with Plus at $39.99. It sells computer vision now.
- How MySpace Lost to Facebook and Sold for $35MMySpace lost to Facebook after News Corporation tied the site to a $900 million Google ad deal. It sold for $35 million in June 2011.
- Is Adobe Flash Still Around? Flash Player in 2026Adobe Flash Player died on December 31, 2020, but Flash is not fully gone: China still ships version 34 and over 200,000 games survive.
- Does Hotmail Still Exist? Outlook.com Runs It NowHotmail still exists. Microsoft retired the name in May 2013 and moved 300 million accounts to Outlook.com, where old addresses still work.
- Does GeoCities Still Exist? Where the Pages WentGeoCities does not still exist. Yahoo deleted it on October 26, 2009, taking about 38 million pages. Archive Team saved 641 GB of them.
- Is MSN Messenger Still Around? Yes, on EscargotMSN Messenger died in 2013 and Skype, the thing that replaced it, died in 2025. A free fan server called Escargot still runs it in 2026.
- Is AIM Still Around? AOL Instant Messenger in 2026Is AIM still around? No. AOL Instant Messenger shut down on December 15, 2017, and hobby servers are now the only way to sign on.
- Windows XP Bliss Wallpaper: Where the Hill Is NowThe Windows XP Bliss wallpaper hill is real, on private land off Fremont Drive in Sonoma County, and it turned green again on 18 February 2026.
- Y2K Explained: What Really Broke on January 1, 2000The Y2K bug was real and the US spent about $100 billion killing it. Here is what still broke on January 1, 2000, from spy satellites to slot machines.
- 90s Websites Still Online in 2026: 5 That SurvivedYes, 90s websites are still online in 2026: the 1996 Space Jam site lives at spacejam.com/1996 and info.cern.ch has run since 1991.
- Dial-Up Speed vs 2026 Internet: How Slow Was 56k?Dial-up speed topped out at 53.3 kbit/s, about 1,876 times slower than the 100 Mbps broadband floor. AOL quit dial-up on September 30, 2025.
- What Was the First Thing Sold Online? PizzaNet vs a CDThe first thing sold online was not a pizza. PizzaNet took orders in August 1994, eleven days after a Sting CD sold for $12.48.
- Did Yahoo Turn Down Google for $1 Million in 1998?Yahoo never bought Google and Google never bought Yahoo. The $1 million story is thinly sourced, and the real offer in 2002 was $3 billion.