Before the boom of the digital era and the rise of Google, Myspace and Facebook, BowieNet was upon us.

What is BowieNet, you may ask? For those of you who may have never heard of it, or for the folks in the back who forgot it even existed, BowieNet is the internet service provider founded by David Bowie. That’s right, folks - internet provided by Bowie. Does it get better?

In fact, it does. BowieNet doubled as a message board forum for fans to gather and discuss all things “Bowie”. Better yet, Bowie himself would join the conversation under an alias of “Sailor.” He would recommend new music, tell old stories, debunk rumors and respond to fan questions. It was a service ahead of its time.

According to an article from Slate, BowieNet launched 23 years ago on September 1, 1998 and cost $19.95 a month for an @davidbowie.com e-mail address, 5MB of online storage, access to exclusive content and the online chat room community. For those who wanted to forego BowieNet as their ISP, you could pay $5.95 a month to still have access to www.davidbowie.com, the interactive community.

It was a service that connected celebrity and fan - a groundbreaking advance in the digital sphere. We can’t help but imagine the absolute thrill of seeing “Sailor” respond to your post! Leave it to Bowie to be a pioneer, yet again.

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