In the past day, Twitter users have shared the tweets under the hashtag #twitterfirsts, so we thought we'd dredge up old, weird moments in tech and see what happened way back when.
The guy who coined the hashtag was also two years early to naming the iPad. Conspiracy? Definitely.
Thought @pmarca invented the tweetstorm? Think again. We've been talking about tweetstorms since way back in 2007, though people didn't seem to obnoxiously break them up into numbered items like they do now.
People also seemed to use "tweetstorm" to describe the general phenomenon of tweets rushing past. Apparently Robert Scoble was in on the early days of tweetstorming.
HP had a major spying scandal way back in 2006 that's slightly reminiscent of another massive tech company that invaded the lives of tech reporters... Before Apple's watch was even a glimmer in the company's eye, there were iWatch jokes.
Twitter canoes have come a long way.
Wearables haven't actually come very far, all told. Facebook alternatives weren't called Ello back then... and options were even more grim.
Snapchats were some kind of godforsaken sounding tech event instead of the self-destructing messages we know today.
Facebook sounds about the same. The first mention of Mark Zuckerberg's nickname is a joke that withstands the test of time. On Twittering:
In 2006, the startup bro look was already growing into the iconic style we know and loathe today in this early mention of one of tech's most loathsome beyond overused buzzwords.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Illustration by Max Fleishman
