20 years ago yesterday, Brad Templeton posted to USENET the public launch of ClariNet, his electronic newspaper service delivered over the Internet. According to Templeton, "ClariNet was the first business founded to use the Internet as its platform for business, and the era of the 'dot-com' had begun."

He has posted a history of ClariNet here.

Among his introductory remarks are the following words:

"It seems odd to think of just 20 years as distant history, but the story of the internet is so accelerated that the world has changed in such a short time.

ClariNet has a claim on being the first 'dot-com.' Of course, how you judge that depends on your definition of what a dot-com company is, and there are of course other definitions and other companies with valid claims."