Happy birthday, IMN! In 1999, two entrepreneurs founded IMN in a Boston-area basement. We’ve grown up to become a turnkey email newsletter and marketing service that helps businesses create and distribute newsletters affordably, efficiently, and effectively.
Fifteen years may not seem that old, but the world of technology and marketing was very different in 1999. Common household items and technology are now obsolete: dial-up internet, floppy disks, VHS tapes, Sony Walkmans, boom boxes – the list goes on.
Let’s take a nostalgic look back in time to what the world was like when IMN was born.
Technology
- Blackberry releases their first device, an email pager.
- Napster, a music downloading service that revolutionized peer-to-peer file sharing, debuts.
- NTT Docomo releases the first widely-adopted smartphone in Japan.
- 248 million people used the internet. (To put that number into perspective, nearly 3 billion people use the internet today.)
Pop Culture and Events
- Y2K, the technological “prophecy” that computers would fail because of the date change for the new millennium, causes societal worry and panic over banks, traffic lights, power grids, airports, microwaves, televisions, and more. Many people stored extra cash and food supplies in their homes in case of a systemic computer failure.
- The Clinton impeachment trial ultimately finds former president Bill Clinton not guilty of perjury or obstruction of justice.
- Nelson Mandela, the first black president of South Africa, retires his presidential term.
- The Euro is introduced as the official currency of the European Union.
- “The Sopranos” debuts on HBO. (It would later go on to be named the greatest and most groundbreaking television series of all time by many critics.)
A lot has changed in 15 years, including at IMN! However, our mission remains the same: To make memorable content that helps our clients win new customers and keep current ones engaged.
We look forward to the next 15 and to the technological advances they will bring to our clients and their businesses.