SCN History

SCN: A Little Light History
(With thanks to Doug Schuler, Randy Groves and Aki Namioka)

The Seattle Community Network was officially launched in January 1992. However, the gestation process was a long one: the system install was on December 31, 1993 and SCN went live in spring of 1994.

SCN was originally a project of the Seattle Chapter of Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR). In 1995, the Seattle Community Network Association (SCNA) was incorporated as a separate non-profit organization. SCN.org-the network--continues to be the electronic arm of SCNA, the organiziation that supports workshops and other projects.

We have been lucky enough to partner with the Seattle Public Library from the start. We weathered the move from the old downtown library to the interim site...and will move into the new library in the spring. This is no mean feat, requiring precise coordination with the library for the transfer of phone lines and equipment.

SCN is still an all-volunteer organization and we do not depend on grants to keep going. Our primary source of funds are the contributions made by our our donors.

Many free online services have come and gone, including many of the other freenets, and despite the dire predictions that the "free" services from the dot-coms would put us out of business SCN is still here. Not bad for an all-volunteer organization.

 

Keep checking this page for bits of SCN history. But for now, a short stroll down memory lane:

MEMORY LANE--IN 1994...

• Tim Bernes-Lee launched the World Wide Web Consortium
• Commodore filed for bankruptcy.
• Netscape was founded by Marc Andreesen and James H. Clark.
• YAHOO (Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle) was created by David Filo and Jerry Yang.
• DOS 6.22, Windows 3.11 and Chicago (the code for Windows95) were released.
• Apple gave the OK to first (official) Mac clones.

Ti Locke
SCN Board President
scna-board@scn.org