The world’s very first dot com will turn 30-years-old this upcoming Sunday and we’re not talking about Kim Dotcom who’s already 41-years-old, we’re talking about a “.com” domain name: Symbolics.com
Viral interest in this story, which was reported by Network World earlier this morning, has reached the heights of trending status across the web today.
The domain name was originally registered on March 15, 1985 by Symbolics, makers of the Lisp computer. The now defunct computer manufacturer Symbolics and its assets were acquired by Symbolics, Inc., who continues to sell and maintain the Open Genera Lisp system and the Macsyma computer algebra system.
The domain name was sold in August of 2009 to XF.com Investments after what CNN Money reports to have been an unsolicited call from the investment company’s CEO, Aron Meystedt, who later indicated in a press release that his company felt “blessed for having the ability to obtain this unique property.”
For us to own the first domain is very special to our company, and we feel blessed for having the ability to obtain this unique property.
As for the current state of the website, which harbors a blog which hasn’t been updated in a couple of years, Meystedt remains optimistic as he was quoted having said that it “could grow into a revenue-generating property if we allow advertisers to sponsors elements”.
As far as the domain name being for sale, Meystedt told Network World that his company has “no plans to sell the name at this time.”
Symbolics was one of the original computer workstation manufacturers, but its Lisp computer programming language eventually diminished in popularity, leaving the company filing for bankruptcy back in 1993.
Given the opportunity, what kind of website would you turn the world’s oldest .com into?
