Talk:Tripod (web hosting)

Lycos Tripod - Chapter 11 - All Sites Down
According to the Wall Street Journal on 15 June 2016, Lycos Tripod filed for protection against bankruptcy under Chapter 11. At midnight, 16 June all of its websites became inaccessible. The Hindu Times of India mentioned the Chapter 11 filing also on 16 June. Other professional commercial news sources mentioned the bankruptcy filing. Numerous websites remarked that Lycos Tripod websites were down. At present, it appears that Daum, the South Korean company that sold Lycos Tripod to an Indian company, Ybrant Digital, in 2010, will get it back. Until then, unless something unforeseen happens, it can be assumed that all websites will remain inaccessible. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Watch Dog Zeroing In (talk • contribs) 08:02, 17 June 2016 (UTC)
 * It was still up until yesterday, but today it seems to be completely dead. My own website, the www.tripod.com website, and www.tripod.lycos.com website are all not responding. Might all reduce to the same server. The system had been progressively degraded over the last few years, so it seems likely they've finally pulled the plug. How long until we can pronounce it dead? Sad, but they had plenty of time to try other financial models, so my compassion is limited. Shanen (talk) 06:49, 29 October 2016 (UTC)
 * We do not declare it dead; we wait until reliable sources declare it dead, then report that. We've seen outages before; the current one may be an equipment failure, or the result of hacking, or any of a number of other situations that may pass. --Nat Gertler (talk) 14:33, 29 October 2016 (UTC)
 * My question wasn't clear enough? What if no "reliable source" cares enough to say anything? I actually looked for recent news before resorting to Wikipedia. Anyway, I'm glad to report that Tripod is back up after about 4 days. From various sources and announcements, it seems they are reorganizing the company again, but the overall impression is that there is a lot of disarray going on. Pretty sure that was the longest full outage I've seen in many years. The main article includes mention of an old shutdown rumor, but I think the present condition is rather more dire... Shanen (talk) 09:07, 31 October 2016 (UTC)

This week
This week, I hope to update this article with some additional historical and feature information. In the interest of full disclosure, I actually work at Tripod. (However, I have been doing Wikipedia stuff off and on for a while; I'm not coming on solely to edit this article.) If anyone does not want me to write it, I won't. However, I would sincerely appreciate that someone review this page after I am done to ensure that the page is properly viewpoint neutral. JRP 14:17, 28 Apr 2005 (UTC)


 * Please contribute. Your unique position gives you access to more information behind the company's history than any internet archive could do.  -Ichabod 00:34, 11 May 2005 (UTC)

Removed this line because it is not accurate... at least not yet: Tripod staff migrated Angelfire's infrastructure onto Tripod's servers and tools, but maintained Angelfire's brand identity. In six months if it becomes true, I'll add it back in... (FWIW, Tripod is served out of Miami and Angelfire from California.) JRP 20:37, 22 August 2005 (UTC)


 * With all respect-- this article is woefully inaccurate. Hoping for response-- if not,  will mark for deletion with explanation and rationale.  KenThomas (talk) 08:16, 2 March 2009 (UTC)
 * You're always free to do so, but it might be more helpful for you to describe what your problem is and help to improve the article. The page would survive an AfD without too much debate, I suspect, and that doesn't really help you or us to make it better. JRP (talk) 04:38, 3 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the reply; just seem to have lost a longer reply to you on save,  somehow.  In brief:  my concern was that this article relied more on first-hand impressions and the Tripod "myth" at Williams,  than third-party verifiable "facts."  Tonight,  at least,  that is less of a concern in my mind,  but I'd like us to have a more accurate and verifiable representation of Tripod.  Best,  KenThomas (talk) 06:02, 4 September 2012 (UTC)

removed question
I removed the following: "Is Tripod.com still functioning? It's like completely non-existant when I try to access there on 2 January 2007 16:18 GMT" It's a good question but shouldn't in article namespace. Edivorce 18:43, 2 January 2007 (UTC)

Tripod.com blackout
...As well as most other Lycos network sites. What's the problem there? -Mardus 18:44, 2 January 2007 (UTC)

Moved on-article discussion about blackout here:

Tripod.com isn't working today. WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY!!!!!!!???????????? 208.103.165.40, 2. jaanuar 2007, kell 19:19


 * Tripod was hit by a bug today. I talked to the COO Brian Kalinowski today. They are trying to fix it. 71.254.74.251, 2. jaanuar 2007, kell 23:18

-Mardus 21:05, 2 January 2007 (UTC)

It appears now that tripod.com, lycos.com and many other Lycos Network websites are operational again, so I removed the blackout notice. -Mardus 21:18, 2 January 2007 (UTC)

I've had an account with them for several years, and I've seen this sort of dropout happen only once before, they're usually pretty reliable. MDonfield 23:03, 2 January 2007 (UTC)

Investment and buyout
The material in this section reads fine. Just being in the past tense, and the years mentioned begin 1998 and 2001, there's the question what happened since then.

For example: The two properties [Lycos and Tripod] were run concurrently... How has this changed? Or are they still?

I don't know. If someone else has any info that they could add that would be great!!! Dannman (talk) 13:59, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

What is this doing here?

 * == Domain name ==
 * Web sites generally are a subdomain of tripod.com. However, users can pay a monthly charge and own a domain name.
 * Paying in this manner also allows for other benefits, such as more disk space for the site which allows the site owner to put more information onto it, and personalized email accounts (i.e. yourname@yoursite.com).

Does this have anything to do with Tripod? Why try to define "domain name" here? -- 98.64.100.169 (talk) 13:21, 24 August 2010 (UTC)
 * I think the point was to emphasize that on Tripod you can have a *.tripod.com address or a real domain name, depending on your plan. JRP (talk) 03:26, 25 August 2010 (UTC)


 * It seems awkward, but the point is that Tripod was the *first* service to allow people to quickly put content on the WWW for free,  and without much technical knowledge.  (This was integrated with other services,  some planned).  subdomain.tripod.com = alpha or beta of subdomain.example.com,  roughly speaking.  Cheers to DeWitt Clinton,  for stumbling upon the enormous value this represents;  it was not planned or expected.
 * Ethan Zuckerman has posted many reflections on this, on his 'Heart in Accra' site.  KenThomas (talk) 05:46, 4 September 2012 (UTC)

The Name
Why was it called Tripod? The article mentions the domain name registration, but it's not clear why they chose Tripod for an online service provider aimed at students. -Ashley Pomeroy (talk) 15:06, 5 November 2010 (UTC)


 * It was envisioned as a "Tripod" of online services to support recent college grads: entertainment/social advice & connections;  financial planning information & advice;  career information/help/advice.  KenThomas (talk) 04:58, 4 September 2012 (UTC)

Not exactly a web hosting service
Tripod was not really (primarily) a web hosting service in concept; there was much more,  especially an effort at online community (before "social networking"). DeWitt Clinton's home page builder simply was the idea/functionality out of the shop that "took hold" and generated traffic, as well as investment. The lede sentence & some of the following therefore seems deceptive to me. Can someone look/edit/clear this up? NOTE: I was Bo and Brett's roommate as Tripod was founded,  so don't want to edit here unless no one else takes this up. KenThomas (talk) 03:10, 4 September 2012 (UTC)