Ning
Andreessen and Bianchini launch Ning, a free online service where users can build social applications. The service is a product of Palo Alto startup 24 Hour Laundry. Developers can use Ning’s tools to build new programs or work off of clones of existing services.
The difference between apps built on Ning and any of these other services is that we make it easy for developers to build whatever app they want for any topic, interest, group, language, location or product, without a lot of effort. As a user, you get to explore and take advantage of this wider variety of social apps.
Netscape rename
Andreessen and a founding team of five other members announce the name change from Mosaic Communications Corporation to Netscape Communications Corporation based on the popularity of the “Netscape” browser. Chairman and CEO Jim Clark says:
We are making this name change both as a gesture of good will to the University of Illinois and to more clearly differentiate our company from other companies marketing World Wide Web browsers. ‘Netscape Communications’ more fully conveys the nature and breadth of our business, which is much more comprehensive than a simple browser for the Internet. Our new name enables us to underscore our unique identity as a premier provider of complete, standards-based client/server solutions for communicating and conducting commerce on the Net.