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About CompuServe
The first public, commercial chat program. Launched on February 21, 1980. The company provided a virtual space for technical support for high-tech companies. Citation:
“CompuServe CB.” Internet History, Design, Advanced Use, Help, Security, Important Features..., www.livinginternet.com/r/ri_compuserve.htm. -
Legal Status
Unisys Corp. patents LZW algorithm (named after its creators, Abraham Lempel, Jacob Ziv, Terry Welch), a compression technique used to make the GIF. The corporation attaches a small fee to the compression method. Citation:
Boissoneault, Lorraine. “A Brief History of the GIF, From Early Internet Innovation to Ubiquitous Relic.” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 2 June 2017, www.smithsonianmag.com/history/brief-history-gif-early-internet-innovation-ubiquitous-relic-180963543/ -
The GIF Invented
In a search of technology that could quickly display images over slow connections and save memory, Sandy Trevor, V.P. of CompuServe at the time, asks Steve Wilhite, an engineer for the tech company, to find a solution. It’s in his search that he invents the Graphic Interchange Format or GIF. The "Dancing Baby" was one of the major GIFs that went viral. Citation:
Buck, Stephanie. “The History of GIFs.” Mashable, Mashable, 19 Oct. 2012, mashable.com/2012/10/19/animated-gif-history/ -
GIF Diminishes in Popularity
In the 1990s, AOL Instant Messenger’s emojis steals people’s attention from GIFs. This decline in trends for GIFs is also due in part to the copyright issue with Unisys. Citation:
Barrett, Jeff. “The Rise and Fall and Rise of GIFs: A History.” Hootsuite Social Media Management, Hootsuite Inc., 1 June 2016, blog.hootsuite.com/the-rise-and-fall-and-rise-of-gifs-a-history/ -
Copyright Issues
Copyright disagreement between Unisys and CompuServe begin to draw to end. During this disagreement, people boycott the GIF. They turn to a “single-image, patent-free alternative to the GIF” called Portable Network Graphics or PNG. Citation:
Buck, Stephanie. “The History of GIFs.” Mashable, Mashable, 19 Oct. 2012, mashable.com/2012/10/19/animated-gif-history/ -
PNG Invented
The Portable Network Graphics (PNG) created specifically to replace the GIF. It's a patent-free alternative to the Graphic Interchange Format. Citation:
Buck, Stephanie. “The History of GIFs.” Mashable, Mashable, 19 Oct. 2012, mashable.com/2012/10/19/animated-gif-history/ -
GIFs Make a Comeback
In early to mid-2000s, GIFs make a comeback on Myspace (and Tumblr) which had pages that were easy to personalize, and GIFs were used as a method of self-expression. Some believe that the GIF returns out of a desire for speedy communication and other believe that its return is due to the DIY spirit of the internet. I would like to argue that they’re both valid reasons. Citation:
Barrett, Jeff. “The Rise and Fall and Rise of GIFs: A History.” Hootsuite Inc., 1 June 2016 -
GIPHY Invented
Alex Chung and Jake Cooke build GIPHY to make it easier for people express their emotions and make GIFs easily accessible. GIPHY is pretty much a search engine for GIFs. Citation:
Barrett, Jeff. “The Rise and Fall and Rise of GIFs: A History.” Hootsuite Social Media Management, Hootsuite Inc., 1 June 2016, blog.hootsuite.com/the-rise-and-fall-and-rise-of-gifs-a-history/ -
GIFs Get Some Wind
In early 2013, people begin to display GIFs in Museums and they become wanted by marketers. GIFs have appeared twice in the Museum of the Moving Image since. Steve Wilhite receives a life-time achievement award and spurs controversy over how “GIF” is pronounced when he says that it’s “Jif” like the peanut butter brand, not GIF with a hard “G”. Nonetheless, people still argue about its pronunciation. Meanwhile, Oxford Dictionary says that both pronunciations are correct. So, take your pick! -
GIFs on Social Media
Twitter users share over 100 million GIFs, Facebook allows users to search for and post GIFs directly on messenger. Citation:
Barrett, Jeff. “The Rise and Fall and Rise of GIFs: A History.” Hootsuite Social Media Management, Hootsuite Inc., 1 June 2016, blog.hootsuite.com/the-rise-and-fall-and-rise-of-gifs-a-history/
