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Case file: a category that formed

Why did PointCast fail, and when did personalised feeds become viable?

Formed since 2026-10-25 · ledger #16

Always-on broadband (about 20 per 100 in 2006) made a constantly updating feed cheap to deliver.

Short answer

PointCast (1992) pushed personalised news to desktop screens from 1996, reportedly turned down a $450M offer from News Corp in 1997, and was sold for a small fraction of that in 1999. Its constant updates clogged dial-up lines and office networks. Facebook's News Feed (2006) ran on always-on broadband, which had passed 20 lines per 100 Americans.

Killing constraint
Always-on broadband
E2 Bandwidth / connectivity
Crossing
2006
US fixed broadband reaches about 20 lines per 100 people (World Bank).
Who won
Facebook News Feed
founded 2006

A feed that updates all day needs a connection that is always on and not metered by the minute.

The metric that moved

Fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people, United States (ITU via World Bank)

1999 0.987 per 100 → 2024 38.86 per 100 (39.4× better for the category)

Fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people, United States (ITU via World Bank)02040199820032008201320182023PointCast soldNews Feed1998: 0.256 per 1001999: 0.987 per 1002000: 2.51 per 1002001: 4.5 per 1002002: 6.93 per 1002003: 9.57 per 1002004: 12.76 per 1002005: 17.3 per 1002006: 20.16 per 1002007: 23.76 per 1002008: 25.29 per 1002009: 25.97 per 1002010: 27.17 per 1002011: 28.12 per 1002012: 29.17 per 1002013: 30 per 1002014: 30.27 per 1002015: 31.34 per 1002016: 32.11 per 1002017: 32.57 per 1002018: 33.06 per 1002019: 33.84 per 1002020: 35.72 per 1002021: 37.01 per 1002022: 37.49 per 1002023: 38.09 per 1002024: 38.86 per 10038.86 per 100

Live series from World Bank Open Data, refreshed by the weekly job, last fetched 2026-10-25.

Data table
DateFixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people, United States (ITU via World Bank)
202438.86 per 100
202338.09 per 100
202237.49 per 100
202137.01 per 100
202035.72 per 100
201933.84 per 100
201833.06 per 100
201732.57 per 100
201632.11 per 100
201531.34 per 100
201430.27 per 100
201330 per 100
201229.17 per 100
201128.12 per 100
201027.17 per 100
200925.97 per 100
200825.29 per 100
200723.76 per 100
200620.16 per 100
200517.3 per 100
200412.76 per 100
20039.57 per 100
20026.93 per 100
20014.5 per 100
20002.51 per 100
19990.987 per 100
19980.256 per 100

Graveyard

Companies that died proving people wanted this. Capital shown where it was disclosed.

CompanyYearsCapitalHow it diedSource
PointCast1992–1999—Sold in 1999 after rejecting a reported $450M offersource M

Who won once the constraint crossed

  • Facebook News Feed (founded 2006) — launched September 2006 source

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