Dot-com marks 25th anniversary

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - It's been 25 years since the first dot com domain was created. The web site frenzy took off in the late nineties and now you can find just about anything online.

For many people it's hard to imagine life without the web. March 15 is the silver anniversary of the first dot com domain creation.

Stacy Wellborn creates web sites for a living and said they have changed the way people live life.

"I think it's changed our whole perception of time, and usage of time has changed because of the internet and websites," Wellborn said.

Websites have redefined the way we shop, bank, and sell.

"In the old days you waited for your bill to come, sat down one Sunday afternoon wrote a check and stamped it, mailed it, I mean who mails a bill back anymore?" Wellborn asked.

Most large companies are online including car dealer ships.

Jeff land at Grady BMW said the web gives shoppers a chance to preview the inventory.

"We have a large amount of customers who find us through the internet. Most people sit at their house, look at what they want, decide if they want to come down a certain day. They'll e-mail us, set up an appointment and we'll go from there," Land said.

Convenience is the web's best seller.

Lowe's store manager Michael Latona also said his customers have the chance to order things like appliances all from the comfort of their own home. Latona said in his market price, comparing is what customers want to do before they make a visit to the actual store location.

"They can place that order at home, submit it to the store and we can have it ready for them within 30 minutes. They can stop by the store really fast, come by the customer service desk, pick that item up and it's ready to go," Latona said.

Most people have sold or purchased something online.

Wellborn said that is continuously changing the face of the business.

"Search engine is really number one. People know the yellow pages aren't used as much anymore yet Google, Bing, Yahoo, online search engines are really where people are finding businesses. If they aren't on the internet, they won't be found there, so we're seeing people transition marketing dollars from yellow pages to web design and development," Wellborn said.

The nominations for the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize are coming in and "the internet" as well as several of the web's original creators are up for the award, 25 years later.