20 years is a very long time in technological terms. Mobile phones were neither smart nor accessible. Those of us who were online back then were mostly accessing the Internet via dial-up. If you had 20GB of hard drive space on your Pentium PC, that was truly massive and exceptional. Now, we have far more storage than that on the device we carry in our pocket.
I’d been creating on-demand streaming content since 1996. But it was 20 years ago, on 31 December 1998, that I broadcast live on the Internet for the first time, using new streaming technology called SHOUTcast. It was mono, low-bandwidth, horrible quality and primitive, but it was live, and my mind immediately began filling with dreams of bringing the blind community together via Internet radio. I had no idea how my life was about to change, or quite what I was starting.
Over these last 20 years, it’s been an absolute blast to have produced many thousands of hours of Internet radio, and to have worked with some outstanding people doing so.
As it happens, the exact anniversary of that first broadcast, new year’s eve in the evening New Zealand time, is when I’ll be broadcasting with our traditional new year’s show. We’ll have a bunch of cool people celebrating at Mosen Towers as we say goodbye to 2018, and hello to 2019 and the start of another 20 years of Internet broadcasting.
This show’s going to be special, as we throw in a bit of archival material and memories into the party mix. You’re welcome to join us and share memories of your own. It never ceases to amaze me how many people are out there with encyclopaedic knowledge of the Internet radio work I’ve had the honour to do all these years. We can also talk about some of the hardware and software you remember using back then.
This special show starts on new year’s eve at 9 PM in New Zealand. That’s 3 AM Eastern, midnight Pacific, 8 AM in the UK.
And of course, it’s only on the station I’m so proud to be a part of, Mushroom Fm. Look for us in any radio app or smart speaker, both terms that weren’t invented 20 years ago, or visit online, http://MushroomFm.com.
Whether you plan to listen or not, if you’ve listened to any of the Internet radio I’ve had the honour to create these last 20 years, thank you so much. It has been an amazing ride.