Previous: 1991 / Next: 1993 View all of the years in the New Media Timeline               TECHNOLOGY Jan. 1992 -- The Internet Society, an international organization for coordination of the Internet, is founded. Jan. 12, 1992 -- The fictional HAL 9000 computer becomes operational at the H.A.L. plant in Urbana, Illinois. (The movie 2001: A Space Odyssey says that HAL was created in 1992, but the book writes that it was in 1997.) The U.S. Senate approves a program to fund the National Research and Education Network (NREN). March 8, 1992 -- A computer virus called Michelangelo threatens to damage computers around the world. "The Little Virus That Didn't: The press couldn't get enough of Michelangelo. But did it fall prey or save the day?" AJR, May 1992. An early ebook called the Sony Bookman is introduced. (See also: "Now the Plot Thickens: Digital reading? What the Dickens is that?" Stuart Whitmore, AsiaWeek.com, Nov. 6. 1998.) There are 65 million personal computers in offices and homes. (Source: InfoCulture: The Smithsonian Book) Dec. 1992 -- A mobile phone in the United Kingdom receives one of the first SMS messages. The text message was sent from a computer on the UK's Vodafone GSM network.               THE MEDIA "Reinventing the Media." CJR, March/April 1992. "Plugging Into Cyberspace." CJR, May/June 1992. News Example: Aug. 24, 1992 -- Hurricane Andrew. (Stories available from database vendor services.) Dec. 1992 -- It is announced that the Delphi dial-up service is offering full access to the Internet. Delphi is one of the first to provide the general public with easy-to-use, text-only access to the Internet. A few examples of new media sites launched during 1992: (Source: E&P and Alexa) St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Post-Link, Jan. 1992 Service: BBS CNN, CNN Newsroom, Oct. 1992 Service: America Online Chicago Tribune, Chicago Online, 1992 Service: America Online (1994 AJR article) Charlotte Observer, Observer Online, 1992 Service: BBS Statistics The America Online dial-up service has 200,000 subscribers. (Source: AOL) There are 150 newspapers that offer full-text database versions of their stories through vendors such as Nexis, Vu/Text, Dialog, or DataTimes. (Source: News Media Libraries: A Management Handbook) Additional Resources See Also: New Media Bibliography

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