Bill von Meister's guest appearances

Bill von Meister

Internet History Podcast

Techmeme Ride Home

Bill Gates

Chris Fralic

Chris Messina

Joshua Schachter

Al Gore

Eugene Wei

Rafat Ali

Jeff Bezos

Chris Higgins

Jason Schreier

Garry Tan

Matt Stoller

Andy Rachleff

Fred Wilson

Jack Dorsey

OwlTail

Since it’s a holiday week in the US, I’m going to do what I’ve done once before on Holiday weeks and give you an episode from the Internet History Podcast archives. This is a story about tech history that, if you’ve never heard it, will blow your mind. What if I told you there was a crazy entrepreneur who was the true founder of what would become America Online? He was the guy who hired Steve Case back before AOL was AOL. What if I told you that same entrepreneur invented true, networked, online gaming—not in the era of the Xbox 360, or Stadia, but back in the days of the Atari 2600? What if I then told you that same entrepreneur invented a Napster/Pandora/Spotify/Sirius-like music service, all the way back in 1981, before the compact disc was even widely available? That Man Is William von Meister And he is the subject of this episode. This is a crazy story, about a hard drinking, heavy-smoking, women-chasing entrepreneur, seemingly from the Mad Men cloth, who was “a pathological entrepreneur” with a “reality-distortion-field” that would give Steve Jobs a run for his money. It’s a story of about a dozen harebrained businesses, none of which were really successful (excepting of course that some or all of them lent their DNA to the company that would become AOL) but all of which were way ahead of their time, and in many ways, presaged technologies we take for granted today.Sponsors:CloudBees.ioMealimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Since it’s a holiday week in the US, I’m going to do what I’ve done once before on Holiday weeks and give you an episode from the Internet History Podcast archives. This is a story about tech history that, if you’ve never heard it, will blow your mind. What if I told you there was a crazy entrepreneur who was the true founder of what would become America Online? He was the guy who hired Steve Case back before AOL was AOL. What if I told you that same entrepreneur invented true, networked, online gaming—not in the era of the Xbox 360, or Stadia, but back in the days of the Atari 2600? What if I then told you that same entrepreneur invented a Napster/Pandora/Spotify/Sirius-like music service, all the way back in 1981, before the compact disc was even widely available? That Man Is William von Meister And he is the subject of this episode. This is a crazy story, about a hard drinking, heavy-smoking, women-chasing entrepreneur, seemingly from the Mad Men cloth, who was “a pathological entrepreneur” with a “reality-distortion-field” that would give Steve Jobs a run for his money. It’s a story of about a dozen harebrained businesses, none of which were really successful (excepting of course that some or all of them lent their DNA to the company that would become AOL) but all of which were way ahead of their time, and in many ways, presaged technologies we take for granted today.Sponsors:<ul><li><a href="https://synd.co/2Krud9h" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">CloudBees.io</a></li><li><a href="https://www.mealime.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Mealime</a></li></ul>See Privacy Policy at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">https://art19.com/privacy</a> and California Privacy Notice at <a href="https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info</a>.

(Bonus) The Forgotten Online Pioneer, Bill von Meister

What If I Told You…… there was a crazy entrepreneur who was the true founder of what would become America Online? He was the guy who hired Steve Case back before AOL was AOL.What if I told you that same entrepreneur invented true, networked, online gaming—not in the era of the Xbox 360, but back in the days of the Atari 2600?What if I then told you that same entrepreneur invented a Napster/Pandora/Spotify/Sirius-like music service, all the way back in 1981, before the compact disc was even widely available?That Man Is William von MeisterAnd he is the subject of this episode. I’ve enjoyed all of the episodes we’ve done so far, but I have to say this has been the most fun. It’s exciting to shed some light on a bit of history that I think has been criminally overlooked. And to be honest, it’s just such a crazy story, about a hard drinking, heavy-smoking, women-chasing entrepreneur, seemingly from the Mad Men cloth, who was “a pathological entrepreneur” with a “reality-distortion-field” that would give Steve Jobs a run for his money. It’s a story of about a dozen harebrained businesses, none of which were really successful (excepting of course that some or all of them lent their DNA to the company that would become AOL) but all of which were way ahead of their time, and in many ways, presaged technologies we take for granted today.Details:Some of the articles I mentioned about the GameLine System:HereHereand HereAlso, the books mentioned as source materials:Kara Swisher: aol.com: How Steve Case Beat Bill Gates, Nailed the Netheads, and Made Millions in the War for the WebMichael A. Banks: On the Way to the Web: The Secret History of the Internet and Its FoundersAlec, Klein: Stealing Time: Steve Case, Jerry Levin, and the Collapse of AOL Time WarnerAlso, this:See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

What If I Told You…… there was a crazy entrepreneur who was the true founder of what would become America Online? He was the guy who hired Steve Case back before AOL was AOL.What if I told you that same entrepreneur invented true, networked, online gaming—not in the era of the Xbox 360, but back in the days of the Atari 2600?What if I then told you that same entrepreneur invented a Napster/Pandora/Spotify/Sirius-like music service, all the way back in 1981, before the compact disc was even widely available?That Man Is William von MeisterAnd he is the subject of this episode. I’ve enjoyed all of the episodes we’ve done so far, but I have to say this has been the most fun. It’s exciting to shed some light on a bit of history that I think has been criminally overlooked. And to be honest, it’s just such a crazy story, about a hard drinking, heavy-smoking, women-chasing entrepreneur, seemingly from the Mad Men cloth, who was “a pathological entrepreneur” with a “reality-distortion-field” that would give Steve Jobs a run for his money. It’s a story of about a dozen harebrained businesses, none of which were really successful (excepting of course that some or all of them lent their DNA to the company that would become AOL) but all of which were way ahead of their time, and in many ways, presaged technologies we take for granted today.Details:Some of the articles I mentioned about the GameLine System:<ul><li><a href="http://www.2600connection.com/articles/gameline/gameline.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Here</a></li><li><a href="http://www.atariage.com/2600/archives/gameline.html?SystemID=2600" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Here</a></li><li>and <a href="http://kotaku.com/5822897/you-could-actually-download-atari-2600-games-on-an-atari-2600" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Here</a></li></ul>Also, the books mentioned as source materials:<ul><li><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0812928962/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=0812928962&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=thejocom00-20" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Kara Swisher: aol.com: How Steve Case Beat Bill Gates, Nailed the Netheads, and Made Millions in the War for the Web</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004JZWLTK/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=B004JZWLTK&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=thejocom00-20" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Michael A. Banks: On the Way to the Web: The Secret History of the Internet and Its Founders</a></li><li><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/074325984X/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=074325984X&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=thejocom00-20" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Alec, Klein: Stealing Time: Steve Case, Jerry Levin, and the Collapse of AOL Time Warner</a></li></ul>Also, this:See <a href="https://acast.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">acast.com/privacy</a> for privacy and opt-out information.

14. (Misc 1) The Forgotten Online Pioneer, Bill von Meister