http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/21/AR2008122102516.html

JR Raphael of PC World is not to be trusted. His article about the Internet’s 100 Oldest dot-coms is factually inaccurate.

Error 1: "bought", "sold". In 1985, no one bought or sold domain names. Domain names were requested from the registry. Usually by email or postal request.

Error 2: "looks like it was designed in 1985". HTML and HTTP did not exist in 1985, and were no where close to existing.

 

Dot-coms were not commodities to be bought and sold, or prizes to hold, or property on which to squat in 1985. There were no web pages, no "net" and certainly no porn. Domain names were merely easy ways to get to information on IP addresses (and because joe@192.168.1.101 is a dorky address).