Passage III

Internet Gain: Andreessen’s Mosaic

Before Mosaic－the web browser widely credited with popularizing the World Wide Web－was invented, the Internet wasn’t user-friendly. Internet navigation required knowledge of specific typed commands; online documents, consisting almost entirely of text, were hard to locate and download. Given these obstructive hindrances, many people assumed the web would remain the domain of technology experts and never have mass appeal. Marc Andreessen believed the opposite, everyone would want the Internet. (34)

As a student worker, for the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, (NCSA) at the University of Illinois, Andreessen became enthralled by the Internet. In 1992, he conceived of a browser that would simplify web navigation. Rather than typing specific commands, people would be able to access different web pages by clicking on icons. He showed his idea to fellow student Eric Bina, who helped refine the program. The two then worked with the NCSA to develop Mosaic, which became available in 1993. Free to anyone with an Internet connection, Mosaic quickly became popular. Approximately 60,000 copies of the browser were downloaded in its first year.

Mosaic was soon not the first web browser, but it surpassed all rivals. Unlike other browsers, Mosaic was easy to install, and it worked on every operating system. It was the first browser to display pictures and text on the same page (40). Featuring hyperlinks, the user of the program was able to visit other web pages with one click. “With Mosaic,” said one writer, “the online world appears to be a vast, interconnected universe of information.” (42)

Even though it gave way to other, more sophisticated browsers within a few years, Mosaic showed average users the significance of the Internet. Comparatively, its simplicity encouraged people to create and upload their own content. In the year Mosaic was discharged, 623 websites existed. Four years later, there were more than 600,000.