Before Twitter, there was Upoc?

*Day 22* I'm blogging everyday till VidCon! What is VidCon? Check it out at www.VidCon2010.com

I had absolutely no idea what to write about today. I kept thinking of topics, but then I couldn't think of anything to say about those topics. So, I started looking through my "stuff". I looked at old homework, essays I wrote for school, geology reports, short stories, poetry, just whatever, trying to find something to talk about. Then I came across a notebook I made in 1999. Basically, to make this notebook, I went through a bunch of magazines and cut out band biographies, cd reviews, book reviews, celebrity quotes and articles about fun websites. I pasted all of the clippings into the notebook in an organized way and decorated it with glitter and markers and such. The notebook itself is a sort of interesting look into the past, but anyway I was flipping through the pages and reading some of the clippings when one really caught my eye.

The following text is quoted from the clipping I had pasted in my notebook, word for word. (I think this came from a Seventeen magazine in 1999, but I really can't be certain, so I can't site it properly).

"MAKE THE CONNECTION: Getting in touch with your friends can be a hassle- do you ring their cell, dial their pager or e-mail them? With Upoc.com (which stands for universal point of contact), you can get your crew the urgent news about your date last night. Send messages through Upoc.com, and they'll reach your pals wherever they are. You can even subscribe to public groups dedicated to everything from celebrity sightings (so you know where Brad Pitt buys his coffee) to haiku."

That sounds a lot like Twitter doesn't it? My first thought was "wow, someone else had the idea first, but looks like the creators of Twitter got it going".... only I got on my computer and checked out Upoc.com. It still exists! Apparently Upoc Networks were the pioneers of SMS technology. They were asking "what are you Up2?" seven years before Twitter asked "what's happening?"

Did you ever text in a vote for American Idol prior to 2006? That text was powered by Upoc Networks. If you check out UpocNetworks.com, you get the idea that Upoc Networks is a massive company that somehow just doesn't get talked about much. (I have certainly never heard of them before.) However, you might notice that the Upoc Networks website is only current up to 2008! That is because Upoc was sold to Dada Mobil in 2006 and is currently still owned by that company (now called Dada Entertainment, LLC). I find it strange then that the website for Dada Entertainment is only copy-righted up to 2009. The only product of theirs that shows a current 2010 copyright, or any news as of 2010 is the music website Dada.net. It also made me laugh to see that you could "follow" Dada.net on twitter (that familiar blue [t] is in the top right corner of their homepage), but there are no links to Upoc.com (the site that is similar to twitter, and shares the same parent company as Dada.net.) Also, if you do go to Upoc.com, you will see that it is listed as a beta, a test, which was launched in 2007! I guess Dada Entertainment gave up on Upoc.com and gave in to the Twitter bird like the rest of us. It is sort of sad that the company that first imagined the short bits of info we now know as "tweets", has faded into obscurity, and is even neglected by it's own "parent". Awww, poor Upoc.com. At least the idea lives on in a rather amazing way.

So there you go a history lesson that I didn't even plan. We learned it together! Alrighty, this blog is long enough, goodbye till tomorrow.

P.s. I've only got a week left until VidCon starts. Are there any topics you want me to discuss in the next 7 days? Have any questions for me? Let me know in the comments.