On 20 April, 2003, ReadWriteWeb was born. My first post here was appropriately entitled The Read/Write Web and it began: "The World Wide Web in 2003 is beginning to fulfil the hopes that Tim Berners-Lee had for it over 10 years ago when he created it." At the time I started ReadWriteWeb, web 2.0 hadn't yet been invented, Google Adsense hadn't launched (it would do so in June '03), Internet Explorer had 94% of the browser market share (followed by Netscape with 2%), the top blogs of the day according to Technorati were Slashdot (listed as number 1) and Where is Raed ? (a weblog from Baghdad; it closed in 2004). And 5 years ago, there was no money in blogging.
Today the blogging landscape is vastly different. The top blogs now are full-on media businesses. ReadWriteWeb, which started out 5 years ago as an evening hobby for me, has evolved with the times and is now the 11th ranked blog on Technorati's Top 100 - closing in on #10 Daily Kos! The reason we have continued to grow is because ReadWriteWeb is no longer just me. We have a great team of smart, web-savvy and passionate bloggers: Marshall Kirkpatrick, Josh Catone, Sarah Perez, Alex Iskold, Bernard Lunn, Emre Sokullu, and many other occasional and guest writers. ReadWriteWeb nowadays is also a network: last100 (Steve O'Hear and Daniel Langendorf), AltSearchEngines (Charles Knight) and ReadWriteTalk (Sean Ammirati).
Even though RWW is now written by an awesome team of people, it has retained the same essential character and 'voice' that it had when I started it. This blog is about providing analysis of, and insights into, Web trends and the latest Web products. Each of our writers is different and brings their own unique voice to RWW, but we all share a passion for Web technology and that is what ReadWriteWeb is all about. Of course, our readers also share that passion. It is the read/write, two-way Web after all! So thank you to all our readers and supporters over the years. It continues to amaze me how many great people I meet through blogging, all over the world.
As for me personally, I spend most of time now managing the RWW business instead of writing. I would like to write more often, to be honest. But as all startup entrepreneurs will know, when you bootstrap something over a period of years you become a jack of all trades! It's been hard work over 5 years, but I love the challenges of running a 'new media' business and making sure ReadWriteWeb is always at least one step ahead of Web trends :-)
ReadWriteWeb has gone through a number of iterations in design over the years. My dates on these are a bit hazy, but here are some screenshots:
In April 2003 ReadWriteWeb looked like this:
The first proper design I did was in September 2003 and it was, believe it or not, green ("pacific green" to be precise). The version below is a minimalist iteration from Jan '05:
RWW went red sometime around November 2005 - and that's been our color ever since! The image below is a later iteration of this:
And of course here is our current design, which went live over Christmas 2007:
As each year has passed, I've done a review. For nostalgia's sake, here are the links:
It's all very well looking at the past, but if you're in the blogging industry you know that it's all about the now and the near future. Watch out for more great things from ReadWriteWeb this year and beyond!
Listed below are links to blogs that reference this entry: ReadWriteWeb Turns 5.
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Happy Birthday RWW!
Well done Richard for building something so good, and showing that it can be done from outside Silicon Valley! McFilter turned 5 just over a week ago - it doesn't feel like it's been five years.
Here's to many more!
Posted by: Adrian McEwen | April 19, 2008 3:47 PMHappy Birthday! Thanks for the inspiration over the years! All the reading and the writing. More than one post was born after a trip to the RWW :-)
And I agree with the Sir Tim Berners-Lee perspective. Bloggers saved the web!
Posted by: Jonas | April 19, 2008 3:51 PMFeliz Anniversario, RWW!
I just have to ask, though... any significance to the date you chose to start the original Read/Write Web?
Posted by: Jon | April 19, 2008 4:17 PMHappy Birthday from France . I read RWW every day for 3 years.
Thanks for your job
Posted by: philippe | April 19, 2008 4:23 PMYou also forgot to mention that your exact number of subscribers is over 200k. That's more readers than Poland's top daily newspaper 'Gazeta' has (on most days). Quite a success for a hobby I'd say :) Keep up the good work.
Posted by: Marcin Grodzicki | April 19, 2008 4:44 PMWhat a wonderful journey Richard! Privileged and proud to be a part of it!
Happy birthday and cheers (drinking an awesome glass of Bogle 's Phantom right now!)
Alex
Posted by: Alex Iskold | April 19, 2008 4:45 PMAgree with the rest, happy birthday RWW! May there be five more years of interesting reads for us!
Posted by: jazzjeppe | April 19, 2008 4:52 PMCongratz, with Centernetworks and Mashable the top non bullshit tech news blogs.
Posted by: Darren | April 19, 2008 5:06 PMI'm glad to have been able to read R/WW. Thank you for putting out a worthwhile blog and creating an excellent team.
You give me something to strive for in my pursuits!
-D
Posted by: deralaand | April 19, 2008 5:06 PMCongratulations! You provide a great service to the tech blogosphere. Here's to another five years!
Posted by: Perry Mizota | April 19, 2008 5:38 PMThanks all for your nice comments :-) Jon (comment #3), there was no special significance to the date I started it. I had been testing blogging for a while, using Radio Userland, and I think I decided to give it another go April '03 as my Radio Userland license was about to expire :-)
Posted by: Richard MacManusHey Richard
Posted by: Rafat | April 19, 2008 6:23 PMFrom one entrepreneur to another: Congrats. Always enjoyed you and your team's reasoned analysis of technologies and issues.
Richard, I remember how important it was for me to read your blog daily back in 2005 when I started techcrunch. You were and are the gold standard. you should be very proud.
Posted by: michael arrington | April 19, 2008 6:33 PMCongratulation for the successful journey through out five years of duration. Keep this up... This is one of my favorite blog.
Posted by: Kevin | April 19, 2008 7:31 PMRichard,
Quietly you and your team have become ones to read on a daily basis. I second Arrington and Rafat's sentiments. You have built a great portfolio, and a team to be proud of. Here is to next five years.
congratulations.
Posted by: Om Malik | April 19, 2008 7:37 PMRichard (and team) - congrats on the anniversary - RWW is one of the best tech blogs out there and can't wait to see what you come up with this next year!
It's great to see a blog/site grow without getting into the sensationalism so many others employ.
(fyi, i think the 2005 site is my favorite)
Posted by: allen stern | April 19, 2008 7:45 PMHonest to Say, RW/W is far better than any other blog. I see very worth full post not about buzz posts that lined up in techmeme. RW/W stand out from that crowd [techmeme lining.
Happy Birthday.
More Force with you guys :).
Posted by: Mahesh | April 19, 2008 7:57 PMHappy Birthday, RWW!! I've enjoyed watching you grow into the #11 blog in the world. Keep up the good work and I can see that number dropping into single digits. ;)
Posted by: Justin Kistner | April 19, 2008 8:14 PMhappy birthday ReadWriteWeb.
Posted by: Ajay | April 19, 2008 8:17 PMis there any party for BirthDay celebration ?
What is Read Write Web? Your site might be more useful if you mentioned what it was about.
Posted by: Lost | April 19, 2008 8:22 PMThis and TechCrunch are my two favorite web blogs. Some overlap but not as much as you'd think.
And frankly I like your guys' analysis better and also I like that you're a bit mellower. TechCrunch is great but a lot of hype. In general RWW has great in-depth analysis and is very current with a bit less froth.
Posted by: kayvaan | April 19, 2008 8:41 PMRWW - Happy Birthday.
Posted by: Taly Weiss | April 19, 2008 8:59 PMI enjoy reading your blog, and appreciate your wisdom and insights.
RWW is top of the league and deserves to be top ranked in all measures. I think that you show a unique combination of excellency and humbleness.
I wish you all the best.
Taly, TrendsSpotting.com
My favorite blog and my first read in the morning as well. Happy Birthday R/RW!
Posted by: Dan Grossman | April 19, 2008 9:45 PMCongratulations Richard, sincerely...
Posted by: Emre Sokullu | April 19, 2008 10:09 PMWell the least everyone could do is get you a Digg Homepage for your anniversary....
LOL: Even though you are all turning into arrogant, pompous pricks :-D
This blog is just a few links away from making it into the Technorati Top 10 - lets help them for their birthday
http://digg.com/design/ReadWriteWeb_History_of_This_Very_Popular_Blog
Posted by: SearcH◆ EngineS WEB | April 19, 2008 10:48 PMI think Jon (#3 comment) is asking about the date becuase April 20th has had a few events associated with it.
1. hitlers bday
2. columbine
3. and it is of course the "stoner holiday"
Congrats to all, this blog is certainly more enjoyable than all of the above :P Well maybe not as funny as number 3.
Posted by: sean percival | April 19, 2008 10:58 PMRichard and the RWW team:
Congratulations on 5 great years...you guys are a class act! Here's to many more years of success!
Dan Cohen
Posted by: Dan Cohen | April 19, 2008 11:37 PMCEO
Pageflakes
P.S. April 20 is my wife's birthday too, I'll try not to mix up your gifts ;-)
Posted by: Dan Cohen | April 19, 2008 11:39 PMCongrats for 5 years of excellent and fulfilling blogging, Richard! You've certainly managed to turn RWW into a blogging maven.
Posted by: Tibi Puiu | April 20, 2008 12:15 AMCongratulations, Richard and team! Here's to many more years of success and growth.
Posted by: Emily Chang | April 20, 2008 12:16 AMHappy Birthday! While I may not always agree with the conclusion you and your writers reach, there is always discussion about the topic at hand.
That adds immense amounts of value and I thank you for it!
Posted by: Stefan Constantinescu | April 20, 2008 12:35 AMCongratulations with five years of great, insightful and indepth post. Keep up the great work.
Posted by: Anne Helmond | April 20, 2008 1:05 AMHappy Birthday RWW :)
Congratulations for 5 years of great content and in-depth analysis; I wish you more and more success for years to come.
Posted by: Mohamed Marwen Meddah | April 20, 2008 1:51 AMHappy Birthday! ReadWriteWeb is definitely a child of love.
Posted by: Markus | April 20, 2008 2:27 AMMazal-Tov :-)
You guys doing a wonderful job, keep it up!
Posted by: Orli Yakuel | April 20, 2008 2:38 AMRWW is da best!
Posted by: Nikita | April 20, 2008 3:19 AMBig thanks to all the team for all the insights you bring.
Happy 5th Birthday RWW, keep it up and More Power!
nhick
Posted by: ITrush | April 20, 2008 4:27 AMhttp://www.itrush.com
Congratulations! Keep on doing a great job!
Posted by: Yakov | April 20, 2008 4:42 AMHappy birthday! Still like your site.
Posted by: dan | April 20, 2008 6:21 AMCongratulations to Richard and the whole team. Thanks for your inspirational work.
Posted by: Werner Trotter | April 20, 2008 6:25 AMCongrats RWW,
I know after all of the hard work in the early days, some of it is actually starting to pay off now. I have seen nice comments from Arrington, Om, Allen Stern and Rafat. It all just means that you have build a strong brand and business here that is a leader in its respective field.
Im looking forward to seeing where RWW goes in the future and how it evolves as a blog and more importantly as a network.
Posted by: Steven Finch | April 20, 2008 6:44 AMHi, Richard,
Congrats and happy birthday to RWW, I follow your blog for about three years, it is alway on top of my must read. Thanks.
Posted by: Tangos | April 20, 2008 6:47 AMWell done, Richard and team.
Nice trip down memory lane.
And yes, the future of the web looks bright.
And if the likes of (I assume the real) Om, Rafat, and Michael praise you like above, then the future of your venture(s) is indeed bright.
Keep up the good work.
Posted by: Stacy Miller | April 20, 2008 6:56 AMHappy birthday! :)
Posted by: Gopika | April 20, 2008 9:31 AMCongratulations on reaching the five year milestone!
RWW has consistently been the place to go for more thoughtful commentary on the two-way web, and is one of my must-read sources before I start work every morning. Best wishes for another excellent five years!
Posted by: Ben Werdmuller | April 20, 2008 10:17 AMCongrats! I love RWW and I think looking back at the past 5 years was great. Here is to the next 5.
Posted by: Eric Friedman | April 20, 2008 10:19 AMHaving watched RWW grow for at least the past 2 1/2 years, I wanted to give you guys my bestest wishes as a fellow blogger :)
Mine just passed 4 years, and while I don't think I could care for a child or even a house plant that long, it's great to see our little websites grow and our ideas remain available for the wider public to read - for better or for worse.
So congrats guys, keep it up!
Posted by: Vero Pepperrell | April 20, 2008 11:19 AMCongrates!
I've been a regular reader for last three months, and it's been a nice experience with RWW.
Looking for 100th Birthday soon.
Posted by: J U Hasan | April 20, 2008 11:26 AMWell done Richard - great team, great work.
Posted by: Dennis Howlett | April 20, 2008 12:28 PMCongratulations on RWW's the five year milestone!
We have been RWW's regular reader since early 2007. We learn a lot new concepts and it's always been a great experience.
Thanks to RWW, HappyTutors.com, a Web 2.0 service for tutors, students and parents was launched March 2008, since we found a great web 2.0 tool from one of RWW sponsors !!
Looking forward to RWW 10 years birthday and HappyTutors.com 5 year anniversary :-)
HappyTutors.com
Posted by: HappyTutors.com - Connect Tutors with Students & Parents | April 20, 2008 2:43 PM~ Connect Tutors with Students & Parents ~
Hey Richard, what else is there to say...you've been focussed and consistent and it has paid off big time. Awesome job.
Posted by: Charles | April 20, 2008 2:45 PMAs ThePort Network was one of your first sponsors, I am glad to see that five years later both organizations are doing well. Congratulations, Richard, and keep up the good work.
Posted by: Bob Cramer | April 20, 2008 3:55 PMCongrats Rich and the gang!
Posted by: Paul Montgomery | April 20, 2008 7:15 PMCongrats Richard, You've lead something early and made something pretty significant... and even after 5 years.... its still early days ; )
Look forward to whats ahead!
Cheers,
Posted by: Tim Norton | April 20, 2008 8:23 PMTim
Congrats!! You guys have a great team and a great site- my favorite to be exactly!
Posted by: Jason | April 20, 2008 10:24 PMHearty Congrats on completing 5 years! Many give up before reaching even the 2 year mark and it's a great milestone to have come this far.
Funny that you mentioned the "dear raed" site, it was the first blog I ever visited and used to follow it regularly till it closed down.
Am new to RRW but it's going to be a hot favorite henceforth...
Congrats once again and keep up the good work,
-TJ
Posted by: TechJottingz | April 21, 2008 12:22 AMNice R.E.M. reference.
Oh, and Happy B-day. I wish I had time to read every article everyday. The quality is the best.
Rock steady.
Posted by: Dempsey | April 21, 2008 3:41 AMCongratulations!
You read with great pleasure in Russia
Posted by: Rebuyer | April 21, 2008 4:56 AMCongrats! RWW was my first ever blog on web 2.0 and most favourite up till now.
Thanks and go on! :)
Posted by: nlupus.myopenid.comNice portal for nice articles ...
Posted by: Bob | April 21, 2008 6:34 AMCongrats!
Posted by: Mack D. Male | April 21, 2008 11:56 AMCongrats! You're a staple of my online diet. :)
Posted by: Doug | April 21, 2008 12:26 PMHave thoroughly enjoyed the insights that I have picked up over the years here.
Thank You
Posted by: Pyrmont | April 22, 2008 2:11 AMRichard:
Great journey. Your site just rocks. Iam sure these 5 years must have been wonderful and at the sametime hard. Keep up the great work. As, om and micheal mentioned, you are the gold standard. Always!
Cheers,
Posted by: omfut | April 28, 2008 3:02 PMomfut