First it was Compaq by HP, then ATI by AMD, then Netscape by AOL, and now AOL is giving up on Netscape and it seems it will go the way of the dinosaurs…

I find myself curiously melancholy about the announcement on December 28^th 2007 by Tom Drapeau on the decision of AOL to end support for Netscape web browsers.  My career in technology started because of Netscape, and I am so sorry to see it go.  I spent two years at Stream International as Tech Support and later a Mentor for other tech support staff for Netscape 0.9 through 2.1x (or something like that…) - The oldest version of their site I could find on the WayBack Machine was for October 20, 1996 (I had left Stream by then - but was still a Netscape user… in fact, I had one of the old ix.netscape.com email addresses now that I think about it…)

I felt a similar “pang” of sorrow to see ATI Technologies get eaten up by AMD last year – I spent the majority of the past 10 years working for ATI handling the Compaq and Dell accounts as a Field Applications Engineer and then a Global Quality Account Manager.

I think it is a testimonial to change and innovation.  I noticed one of the commentators (albeit with a few spelling mistakes) make this comment to Tom’s article.

Netscape’s rise and fall symbolizes why it is important for all companies to constantly innovate and litigate when others use unethical tactics to hasten their demise. Both Internet Explorer and Firefox can after Netscape. Why are they still around?How did they manage to get popular debuting after one of the most important additions to the beginnings of the World Wide Web? We all know about Microsoft’s controversial tactics - but how does one explain FireFox?!

Why did Netscape not compete successfully? Was there internal politics?

We should all learn from this!

I guess this type of thing shows the continued need for new companies to face the staggering cost barriers of market entry and make their presence viable, because the boys who have been there seem to be dying out.

I think it is great that FireFox will continue to be out there, but I am saddened that I will never see a newer version of the Netscape comet storm again.

Au Revoir, Sayonara, Vaya Con Dios & finally, Thanks for all the fishes!