From the ‘Open Source Goodness’ files:
I remember well when I wrote about Firefox 1.0, which was officially released on November 9th, 2004. It was a very different time – and it was 8 years ago.
Mobile then meant WEP. A book meant paper and Firefox was the only game in town when in came to browser innovation.
Remember back in 2004, a tabbed browser was still a major innovation for the majority of the world’s Internet users.
Over the last 8 years, Firefox has been at the forefront of pushing innovation forward in terms of user experience, speed and security. The last year or so however, has been one of innovation at a pace that is insane. With the new rapid release cycle and new Firefox browsers out every 6 weeks, the web quite literally is evolving faster than ever before.
Firefox itself is also evolving.
8 years ago Firefox was a product platform name. Today Firefox is a brand in its own right. A brand that likely eclipses the Mozilla name itself too. With Firefox OS now in development and a Firefox Marketplace (aka AppStore), the Firefox brand isn’t just about the browser anymore.
I’ve been writing about Firefox since day 1, and it has been a fun ride everyday since.
Congrats Mozilla, your little browser is growing up to be something much more.
Sean Michael Kerner is a senior editor at InternetNews.com, the news service of the IT Business Edge Network, the network for technology professionals Follow him on Twitter @TechJournalist.