The Launch of Next.com
“Whoa, the boss’s table setup really is something else. You only need one serial number field, yet you’re using three.”
“It’s not for an internal database. This is meant for open access from the outside. If we want anonymous users to see some things while restricting others to authorized personnel, it’s best to separate them from the start.”
“Ah, because it’s an anonymous network.”
“Honestly, I’m not entirely sure either. I’m just going by what’s visible for now.”
“The world’s top internet expert and you don’t know? If your team doesn’t know, then no one in the world does.”
“World’s top? I’ll have to decline that burdensome title. That’s more suited to Mr. Yoo.”
The two men sat side by side, chatting amiably. They were Tim Berners-Lee and Murray Campbell. Setting up the mainframes wasn’t something that could be finished in a single day, so Murray Campbell had remained in Korea. Installing the three large cabinet-sized mainframes took only a day, but configuring the software was far more time-consuming.
IBM was a hardware company, yet its IT consulting division was also substantial. Major banks ran their networks on IBM mainframes, and the financial software running on them was also provided by IBM. The two mainframes Yoo Jae-won had contracted for were no different. The deal covered not only the hardware purchase but also software setup. IBM had agreed to configure the systems to serve as stable PC communication servers, and that task had fallen to Murray Campbell.
Then, on the 26th, Tim Berners-Lee arrived in Korea, and the two naturally met. It was their first encounter, but their shared connection to Yoo Jae-won quickly brought them closer. Both being experts in computing, they got along well.
“Could you two keep it down for a moment? I’ll explain everything once the setup is finished.”
Seated before an Egg PC connected via Ethernet to the S390 mainframe, Yoo Jae-won was configuring the DB2 database installed on the mainframe. The idle chatter was breaking his concentration.
“Yes, sir!”
Both men fell silent at once. Satisfied, Yoo Jae-won turned back to the terminal screen and resumed typing.
IBM computers were expensive, but their performance was undeniably impressive. The premium feel of the bundled mechanical keyboards was something even specialized keyboard manufacturers struggled to match. Perhaps they had been designed that way to give weary server administrators at least some typing pleasure.
In any case, what Yoo Jae-won was working on now was the server program for PC communications and the linked database. KETEL did not use a database; it simply stored data according to the format of the PC communication program imported from the United States. That made it extremely difficult to utilize or process posts uploaded by users. From the beginning, Yoo Jae-won had planned for PC communication services such as bulletin boards and clubs to eventually transition to the web, and he was now setting up the database accordingly.
It was not overly complex. He was using Open Board, a bulletin board program popular in the early 21st century. Originally written in the scripting language PHP, the program was now being rewritten in C since the concept of scripting languages did not yet exist. It had already been compiled for the MVS operating system used by the mainframe and uploaded.
Originally, this task should have been handled by IBM engineer Murray Campbell. However, Murray’s understanding of the internet was limited, and he could not meet Yoo Jae-won’s requirements. Setting up a PC communication server connected via telephone lines or ISDN was within his capabilities, but building a server that could handle the expanded internet was unfamiliar territory.
Murray Campbell’s specialty was parallel computing. Since a single CPU could never deliver the computational power needed to defeat a chess champion, the idea was simple: connect multiple CPUs to boost overall performance. Thanks to this approach, the performance of the S390 mainframe Yoo Jae-won was now working on had been greatly enhanced. With six CPUs installed and workloads distributed across them, overload situations were minimized. Parallel computing was essentially distributed computing. While the current setup involved multiple CPUs within a single system, the future would see multiple independent computers linked together to increase overall capability. That was cloud computing.
Since the internet was indispensable to cloud computing, Yoo Jae-won believed Murray Campbell would adapt quickly. Once that happened, the synergy between Tim Berners-Lee and Murray Campbell would be significant.
Three hours passed with everyone focused on Yoo Jae-won’s back and the terminal screen.
“It’s done!”
The words everyone had been waiting to hear finally came from Yoo Jae-won’s mouth. Immediately, the group gathered behind him. Not only Tim Berners-Lee and Murray Campbell, but also the programmers from the Rodeo development team crowded around. Including team leader Lee Chan-soo, more than ten newly recruited members had joined.
Yoo Jae-won unplugged the Ethernet cable connected to the mainframe and connected it to the ISDN line instead. Physically, the connection was now completely severed.
“Alright, shall we try accessing it?”
He moved the mouse and clicked the spiderweb icon labeled “ID Web” on the Android Alpha desktop displayed on the PC. The browser Yoo Jae-won had worked so hard on in February had originally gone without a name. It was simply “the browser.” When Tim Berners-Lee, visiting Korea, pointed out that it needed a proper name, Yoo Jae-won had casually settled on ID Web. The name made it immediately clear that the program was made by ID Technology. When deciding on the name, some had complained that it was too “ID”-heavy, but ID Technology’s brand value was soaring and overwhelmingly positive, so the opinion that maintaining consistency with the ID name was beneficial had also been strong. Especially for promoting the unfamiliar fields of the internet and the WWW, borrowing the market-leading name of ID Technology was far more advantageous.
The ID Web program was extremely lightweight and could even run on a 286. Running it on a 486 meant it launched instantly upon double-clicking. The browser looked slightly different from when Yoo Jae-won had last used it. The most noticeable change was that the screen, previously set to navy blue, was now white, and a very long input field had been added at the top of the program. This long input field was the core feature of the recently updated ID Web—it was where users entered the internet address known as a URL.
“http:www.next.com”
Yoo Jae-won selected the URL field with the mouse and typed carefully. The moment he pressed Enter, a small hourglass icon appeared to the left of the address bar, briefly showing sand trickling down.
NEXT.COM
It was the name Yoo Jae-won had arrived at after much deliberation regarding the service he would soon launch after acquiring KETEL. It was pronounced “Nextcom.” Surveys had shown that far more people preferred Nextcom over Next.com. Naturally, the service would operate under the same name not only in Korea but also in the United States.
Although the ID brand had been incorporated into the browser, the decision to separate PC communication and web services from the ID name and brand them as Nextcom was made to avoid potential monopoly disputes later. Users in the United States would connect to the mainframe installed in the Silicon Valley office, while Koreans would connect to the mainframe at the Rodeo office. Users from the rest of the world would be routed to the nearest server.
“Oh!”
Gasps of admiration erupted from the crowd. It was only natural. On the previously blank white ID Web screen, the Korean phrase “Welcome” and the English word “Welcome” appeared. The font size was so large that the Korean text filled an entire line by itself, and the same was true for the English version. This was the moment when the outline font Yoo Jae-won had painstakingly developed for ID Office truly demonstrated its value. Thanks to its ability to remain smooth and sharp even when greatly enlarged, the text looked remarkably clean despite its massive size.
To see the content below, one had to scroll down using the scrollbar on the right side of the screen or press the down arrow key. Further down was a brief explanation of the concept of the WWW along with instructions on how to use the WWW and HTML. Since the document was written in hypertext, some words were underlined in blue, indicating they were links that could be clicked to navigate elsewhere.
This was the moment Nextcom entered history as the world’s first web page. Only Yoo Jae-won understood the full implications of this event. Even Tim Berners-Lee, who had arrived in Korea and helped create this page with Yoo Jae-won while also participating in developing the web server program accessible from the client, could only express his admiration.
Yoo Jae-won immediately clicked on the “Guestbook” section. The screen changed to reveal a small bulletin board where short messages could be entered.
Originally, Yoo Jae-won used the username Infinity Dream, but it was too long, so he had recently been using the abbreviation InD. He was now leaving the first guestbook entry under the nickname InD for this historic occasion.
After posting the guestbook entry and turning around, he saw everyone’s eyes sparkling. They clearly wanted to try it themselves.
“The server is open, so you can all connect. The office computers all have modems installed, so go ahead and log in directly. The internet is an open space anyone can access, after all. You all know the address, right? www.next.com.”
Reminded that the internet was an open space, the crowd rushed out. Tim Berners-Lee and Murray Campbell, who had no dedicated computers as guests, remained. For their sake, Yoo Jae-won vacated his seat in front of the Egg PC. Both men looked delighted and tried to sit down, but there was only one chair. Western culture did not strongly emphasize deference to elders, so they ultimately settled the order with rock-paper-scissors, a game they had learned in Korea. Tim Berners-Lee won with a fist and took the seat with a broad smile.
Although it was a private internal test, ID Web and Nextcom functioned properly. The mainframe server correctly displayed the web page written in HTML, and user posts written through ID Web were properly received by the server and stored in the database.
To commemorate the occasion, a photographer was called in to take pictures. The background was the S390 mainframe, with the Rodeo development team members standing in front. In the front row were Yoo Jae-won, Tim Berners-Lee, and Murray Campbell. Right in front was the Egg PC, its screen showing the welcome page of Nextcom accessed via ID Web.
Now, only a few tasks remained before the public launch of Nextcom. In Korea, this involved converting data acquired from KETEL and uploading it to Nextcom, as well as implementing new services such as clubs and real-time news article postings on the system. In the United States, it meant migrating posts from the private BBS used for the Security Challenge. Once these tasks were completed, Nextcom—the world’s first web service and the latest evolution of PC communication—would officially begin its service.
However, it was not something ID Technology could accomplish alone. ISDN deployment had to keep pace. If users connected via modem, they would not be able to experience the next-generation service that had been prepared with such effort. Even if they forced themselves to use it, the slowness would kill their curiosity. High-speed ISDN communication had to advance in step with Nextcom.
It would not be easy. Ordinary PC communication only required a relatively inexpensive internal modem card. But Nextcom, which also served as an internet service, required an ISDN-exclusive modem. Even though it was the latest technology, a single modem cost over 200,000 won. Although wages had risen significantly this year, 200,000 won was still a heavy burden even for office workers.