---
title: "The internet in 1995"
description: "Amazon, eBay and JavaScript all arrive in the same year. 23,500 websites, 28.8 kbps at home, $900 for a gigabyte of storage — and what a download actually took."
url: https://atoneplace.net/internet-in/1995/
site: "At One Place"
---

# The internet in 1995

**The internet in 1995: Amazon, eBay and JavaScript all arrive in the same year.**

23,500 hostnames · A 28.8 kbps modem, and the distinctive handshake noise it made.

A remarkable year: three of the businesses that would define the commercial web launched within months of each other, and the language that runs every page you now visit was written in ten days to ship with a browser. Windows 95 shipped without a browser in the box — Internet Explorer was in a separate add-on pack — which is difficult to credit given what followed. Connecting still meant a modem, still meant the phone line was busy, and pages were designed to load usefully over 28.8 kbps because they had to be.

## The numbers

- **Websites:** 23,500 hostnames responding to HTTP
- **Typical connection:** 28.8 kbps — A 28.8 kbps modem, and the distinctive handshake noise it made.
- **A gigabyte of storage cost:** $900, in 1995 dollars

## How long things took to download

*Assuming the connection ran at its rated speed throughout, which it did not. Real dial-up throughput after protocol overhead was typically 10 to 20 per cent below the modem's rating.*

| What | At 28.8 kbps |
| --- | --- |
| A 3 MB song | 14 minutes |
| A 5 MB photo | 24 minutes |
| A 700 MB CD image | 2.3 days |
| A 4 GB film | 13 days |
| A 50 GB game | 169 days |

## What arrived in 1995

- Amazon, in July
- eBay, in September, as AuctionWeb
- Internet Explorer 1, bundled with Windows 95 Plus!
- JavaScript, written in ten days
- Craigslist
- Match.com

## Against the years around it

| Year | Hostnames | Typical speed | $/GB of storage | A 4 GB film took |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1994 | 2,738 | 14.4 kbps | $1,500 | 27 days |
| 1995 | 23,500 | 28.8 kbps | $900 | 13 days |
| 1996 | 257,601 | 28.8 kbps | $500 | 13 days |

Between 1995 and 2020 the typical connection went from 28.8 kbps to 100 Mbps, a factor of 3,472, and a gigabyte of storage fell from $900 to $0.020 — a factor of 45,000. The 4 GB film that took 13 days takes 6 minutes.

## Common questions

### What was the internet like in 1995?

Amazon, eBay and JavaScript all arrive in the same year. A typical home connection was 28.8 kbps, there were about 23,500 hostnames responding on the web, and a gigabyte of storage cost $900.

### How long did it take to download a film in 1995?

A 4 GB film at 28.8 kbps would have taken about 13 days, assuming the connection held its rated speed the whole way, which it would not have.

### How many websites were there in 1995?

About 23,500 hostnames responded to HTTP. That counts hostnames rather than distinct sites, which is why the figure occasionally falls between years without the web shrinking.

## Related pages

- [The internet in 1994](https://atoneplace.net/internet-in/1994/)
- [The internet in 1996](https://atoneplace.net/internet-in/1996/)
- [Every year side by side](https://atoneplace.net/internet-in/)
- [Convert data units](https://atoneplace.net/convert/)

## Sources

- Web Server Survey — Netcraft (https://www.netcraft.com/blog/category/web-server-survey/)
- ICT Facts and Figures / World Telecommunication Indicators — International Telecommunication Union (https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/)
- Historical cost of computer memory and storage — Compiled from contemporaneous retail advertising and manufacturer price lists (/about/)