Aurora Starchild
“I don’t think we’ve even seen the tip of the iceberg. I think the potential of what the internet is going to do to society, both good and bad, is unimaginable. I think we’re actually on the cusp of something exhilarating and terrifying… An alien life form.”
David Bowie, Speaking to BBC
David Bowie was always ahead of most humans in how he perceived the world and all its potential. But if there is one example that most clearly explains his ingenious brain, it’s probably BowieNet — the world’s first artist-created internet service provider.
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How Did David Bowie Come Up With the Idea of an ISP?
It was a natural progression for him.
“I wanted to be a musician because it seemed rebellious,” Bowie once told BBC. “It seemed subversive. It felt like one could affect change to a form….You’d produce signs of horror from people when you said, ‘I’m in Rock and Roll.’ Now, it’s a career opportunity. And the internet now carries the flag of being subversive and possibly rebellious. And chaotic and nihilistic.”
Bowie said that culture — and within that, pop culture, music, and communications — evolved to become more communal. Whereas specific entities used to be in the spotlight in any given movement, he explained, culture became “more and more about the audience.” Rockstars were no longer idolized as the leaders of movements. He saw music as “a currency…not devoid of meaning anymore, but… only a conveyor of information.”
Now the Conveyor of Rebellion Is the Internet, Bowie Said.
Bowie noted that after the 70s, people started breaking away from the concept of singularity. Everything has “three, four, five sides,” in its meaning, he elaborated. It was that openness to different realities that produced the internet.
“We are living in total fragmentation.”
David Bowie
BowieNet was launched in 1998, just 3 years after AOL launched its service. For context, the World Wide Web was made public by CERN in 1991 — but most people didn’t have computers or internet service yet.
It would take years before mobile devices included data and internet search options. An Apple Macintosh cost the equivalent of $4247 back in 1991 when accounting for inflation. Fast-forward to 1998, and the iMac would have cost the equivalent of $2,005. It had USB ports and marked the beginning of a huge computer craze that would coincide with ISPs popping up.
BowieNet Was Ahead of Its Time
BowieNet was ahead of the game as far as technological revolutions go as well. It wasn’t just an internet service provider, but an intricate website that utilized tech concepts that are still considered edgy and nuanced.
360-Degree Camera-Enabled Chatroom
For instance, BowieNet brought David Bowie up close and personal with his fans by providing in-studio camera feeds and two-way communication technology so they could communicate in real-time. The cameras were also 360-degree enabled, so viewers could get a full panoramic view of Bowie’s whereabouts.
Right off the bat, BowieNet celebrated its launch on DavidBowie.com with a live webcast. The cybercast featured a concert with Ani DiFranco, the Specials, the Jayhawks, Jesus and Mary Chain and Spacehog.
Customized Emails
BowieNet offered customizable emails ([email protected]).
“I’m e-mail crazy,” Bowie once admitted to TechTV when talking about his daily routine. “And then I’ll spend probably about an hour, maybe more, going through my site.”
Chat Rooms and News Groups
Keep in mind, this was years before sites like MySpace and Friendster popped up. BowieNet had over 100,000 subscribers, so these early chat rooms had plenty of people to talk with.
Gaming
BowieNet offered online gaming, both single and multiplayer.
David Bowie attributes his interest in online programs to his tech-savvy son, who was very into video games. “He was quite a games freak when he was younger,” he told TechTV. “He sort of got me into the idea of at least, programs… that would have been about ’93…”
And…Omicron?
As a side note, Bowie was also featured in an early Windows Dreamcast videogame called Omikron: Nomad Soul. The game used his voice and likeness. That was in 1999. His character said a lot of ominous things, like “Wake up, people of Omikron,” and warned of the corrupt government turning people into puppets.
Unsurprisingly, that went viral when the COVID-19 Omicron strain started going around.
Alright, maybe there is some credence to the idea that Bowie predicted the future…
