If I had to guess, 80% of us once had an America Online account. Do we remember when we were younger browsing the web with our 56k connection? Do you remember Netscape Navigator? Where do you think those browsers came from? Mosaic was a web browser created in January of 1993. Although people had come out with web browsers way before this, Mosaic would eventually prove to be a revolutionary concept, in that it laid down the foundation and success for modern day web browsers.
Marc Andreeson and his partner Eric Bina became intrigued by a web browser known as Viola. They planned to expand on its concept and make a newer web browser with more features. The two worked for the 
st browser to allow images to be displayed in the actual document, rather than being opened in another browser pa
ge. The World Wide Web became extremely globalized with the release of Mosaic.
Gary Wolfe, a writer for Wired magazine wrote the following about Mosaic: “Mosaic is the celebrated graphical "browser" that allows users to travel through the world of electronic information…Mosaic's charming appearance encourages users to load their own documents onto the Net, including color photos, sound bites, video clips, and hypertext "links" to other documents. By following the links [you] can travel through the online world along paths of whim and intuition.” This is a long quote, but a meaningful one. It basically sums up Mosaic in a nutshell. The internet is a system that connects the world and allows people all over to spread information to each other. This is exactly what Mosaic did. It was one of the first browsers to allow people to spread information to each other within seconds. It was one of the first programs to allow people to do this easily. It allowed scholars to spread ideas and scientists to share information; it helped technology advance, and more importantly, helped connect together the world. Below and Above you can see the difference between Viola and Mosaic. Which one looks easier?
CNETnews, in 1994 published an article titled: “Mother of Invention: How the Mosaic Browser Triggered a Digital Revolution.” Once again Mosaic is being praised as a revolutionary program. Mosaic did not add many features to the browser, though it was one of the first browsers that allowed people with intermediate computer skills to access. Its graphics and designs were also appealing to the average user. There are studies done in the mid 1990s that prove that internet use skyrocketed around the same time Mosaic was released.
Still don’t believe that Mosaic was the innovation of web browsing? That program we all use called Internet Explorer, where do you think that came from? In 1995, Microsoft licensed Mosaic for 2 million dollars, modified it, and renamed it Internet Explorer. After a dispute, Microsoft ended up paying Mosaic 8 million dollars for auditing issues. Every Internet Explorer version before 7.0, in the About box, then said “Based on NCSA Mosaic.”
The internet is a fairly new invention, being that it hasn’t been around for a long time. It will most definitely advance in later years into a more powerful, innovative device. There are hundreds of different things that led to the creation of the internet. The internet involves email, browsers, file sharing, satellites, millions of networks worldwide, hypertext, TCP/IP, etc… All these things had a beginning sometime in the past. Though when it comes to recognizing web browsing, Mosaic may not have been the first, but it was the one that became the most popular, and helped lead the world into a digital revolution.
Sources:
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosaic_(web_browser)
2. http://news.cnet.com/2009-1032-995679.html
3. http://www.livinginternet.com/w/wi_mosaic.htm
