aaroads beginnings

[hbelkins]

...James Lin's route marker field guide?

Oh yes, I was thrilled to find this (like Steve above). One of my fascinations as a kid was to see the state route markers in new states, and even in 1991, I was frustrated because a short foray into Nebraska didn't offer the chance to see what their state route marker looked like.

...that list of U.S. Highways that existed before Robert V. Droz's?

James P.G. Sterbenz from Washington University in St. Louis.

...the rise and fall (and rise again) of C. C. Slater?

His videos got moved to Gribblenation, but now they're gone. Bummer, because I always liked them.

...Kibo?

Huh?

[agentsteel53]

...Kibo?

the miracle of grep.

[andy3175]

Ah yes, the old days when all the personal sites were on Xoom, Tripod, and Geocities and domain names were so expensive that individuals couldn't afford them.

Depends on your definition of "so expensive".  Even in 2000, $35 for domain registration plus $10/mo for hosting wasn't bad.

The problem was that since we were (and are) a graphics-intensive site, the cost of bandwidth became very costly very quickly. Those $10/month deals vanished once the hosts realized how much bandwidth was pushed through AARoads. So we went through hosts several times over, and the one way we figured we could keep the $10/month cost and avoid the bandwidth charges was to divide the site into multiple domains because (as you stated) the cost of registering a domain name was relatively inexpensive. This is why we became aaroads.com, aaroadtrips.com, southeastroads.com, northeastroads.com, rockymountainroads.com, westcoastroads.com, and interstate-guide.com. Now that we operate our own server, we've been slowly merging everything back together. Some of these domains we've released. Speaking of which, can someone tell a Wikipedia editor that rockymountainroads.com and westcoastroads.com don't exist anymore and should change their links to aaroads.com?

Regards,
Andy

[andy3175]

The genesis of aaroads was a conversation between Alex and I on AOL Instant Messenger (AIM).  (Remember oxenjacksn?  That screen name ruled.  I still use the same screen name that I used back then and since 1998.)  I don't remember whether it was Alex or I who came up with the idea, but we both came up with ideas that were eventually implemented.  Alex brought Andy aboard, and the trinity was born.

My recollection is a bit different but pretty close to what you wrote. I think I actually launched the first Geocities page prior to me meeting either of you, and then as we talked we decided to join forces. I wasn't part of the IM where you guys had an idea; honestly I'd thought we all were in chat together on this. LOL. As times flies by, memories sure do fade (and change!). I do recall that when Alex and I met in person in July 2000, we'd figured out a gameplan for the site and started the process to merge things together.

Jeremy made great contributions to the webpage, and he has earned the title of founder. Unfortunately he and I never met in person, but we'd chat a lot (back when we all had time). Perhaps we should bring back some of those early pages, perhaps in our newer format. I always liked the Lost Highways page, myself. But as you all can imagine, our backlog list is long...

Regards,
Andy

[andy3175]

I would've thought of the Steely Dan album first.  Good album as well, IMHO.

Ah, my first thought as well. For once my mind's not in the gutter.

Maybe that was it. I recall there was some reason it didn't sound right.

And yes, great album.

Regards,
Andy

[empirestate]

...James Lin's route marker field guide?

Oh yes, I was thrilled to find this (like Steve above). One of my fascinations as a kid was to see the state route markers in new states, and even in 1991, I was frustrated because a short foray into Nebraska didn't offer the chance to see what their state route marker looked like.

That was my first awakening to the power of the Internet. Prior to that, the only way I knew of to log each state's route markers was to visit them all and draw the appropriate shapes around the page numbers of my RMcN atlas. Then one day I had the brainstorm..."Hey, with this new Internet thing, anybody could write a page about anything–even..." and lo, it was begun.

...that list of U.S. Highways that existed before Robert V. Droz's?

James P.G. Sterbenz from Washington University in St. Louis.

That's the one, though I remembered him being from Massachusetts...and checking his c.v. now, I see why!

...Kibo?

Huh?

His site's actually still around. www.kibo.com

I found his site, and in particular his treatment of orange traffic cones, to be another early epitome of what the Internet could/should be.

[usends]

I think I actually launched the first Geocities page prior to me meeting either of you...

This is my recollection, too.  It was 1997 when I contacted you about your Geocities "Wyoming Highways" pages.  I made some crappy maps for your site, and I hosted them on my own Geocities site (back when they were still an independent company, before Yahoo bought them).  After Yahoo took over, they implemented bandwidth limits, so at that point, Geocities sites with photos and maps really started to become unworkable.  I ended up having about 12 different Geocities accounts in an attempt to circumvent the limitations...

[froggie]

The problem was that since we were (and are) a graphics-intensive site, the cost of bandwidth became very costly very quickly.

However, AAroads was very much the exception rather than the norm when it came to hobby websites and the bandwidth they consumed.  Most (if not all) of the others in the hobby didn't have the same problem you and Alex did.

[Scott5114]

C.C. Slater and G.R. Van from Missouri are two roadgeeks I remember from MTR pretty well that never made the jump over here. Shame, too...I'd like having them around.

[empirestate]

How can we forget Michael G. Koerner's "Highway Feature of the Week"?

And of course, the Steve Anderson empire...

[NJRoadfan]

Prior to 1998, domain names were extremely expensive since Network Solutions was the sole registrar ($100 for two years). Once the ICANN and competitive marketplace came into play, the prices dropped like a rock.

[US71]

C.C. Slater and G.R. Van from Missouri are two roadgeeks I remember from MTR pretty well that never made the jump over here. Shame, too...I'd like having them around.

Slater is more on the sidelines these days.  I think Gene is too busy, but we can harrass him on Facebook.about it >

[hbelkins]

I think C.C. has given up roadgeeking for NYC punk-hardcore band photography. He moved to the city, sold his car and occasionally posts to MTR ("Epstein's Mother.")

I'd like to see his old videos back online. "Short Attention Span Film Festival" and "Dashboard Cinema" were the names his pages were under, I believe.