![129. Michael March on the Indie ISP Industry, and the Birth of Online Spam - podcast episode cover](https://thumborcdn.acast.com/xb7bVH_3ESF2NAZUHuBb_NaYpfU=/3000x3000/https://mediacdn.acast.com/source/77d1c4cf-ee45-45f1-b175-94e1d47c92e1/9c3eaffe-2dad-4f10-973c-b29a09a86c8a/92b1841c-15e3-4965-ab8b-8eb53a9a44b5/internet_history_podcast_logo_600x600.jpg)
Episode description
Michael March was the founder of Internet Direct, the first commercial ISP in Arizona. Michael gives us a first-hand account of the independent ISP industry that grew up around the country in the 1990s. AOL might have been the training wheels for the internet, but the Mom-n-Pop ISPs probably gave more Americans their first Internet experience than any of the online services.
Bonus: Michael was an incidental witness to the first major commercial spam event on the Internet, a story that he relays at the end of this episode.
And you can see Internet Direct featured in a really delicious infomercial from the time here.
And you can follow Michael on twitter @cowmix
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