Matchmaker.com
Encyclopedia
Matchmaker.com is an internet
(and, prior to the internet, dial-up) dating service. It was founded in 1986, making it the oldest of the current online dating sites. From 2000 to January 2006, it was run by Lycos
. In January 2006, it was purchased by Date.com.
Matchmaker.com aligns members into one of several demographic or geographic communities, with only limited communication between members of different communities.
Members would complete a questionnaire which consists of several multiple-choice items as well as some essay questions where you can fill in more specific information about yourself such as "What are your hobbies and interests?" or "What would you ideal first date be like?" When one searched for a potential match, matches were ranked according to the percentage of identical responses you have to the responses in someone else's profile in the multiple-choice section of the questionnaire. You could also sort your match list by distance from your zip code
to the zip code of the matches.
created by Gregory Scott Smith in San Antonio, Texas in March 1983. It began as a dial-up system running on a single Apple II+ with a modem. Shortly afterwards, it was ported to a Microsoft Xenix
–based Tandy 6000 microcomputer and re-written in MBASIC
, and then re-written again in C
by programmer Jon Boede. It was originally conceived as a pen-pal network for everyone. There were no membership fees and the system operated on user donations.
In 1985 the system was relocated to Houston, Texas and operated on four dial-up lines. The following year, two other systems were networked and allowed users in San Antonio, Texas and San Jose, California to join the "date-a-base".
In 1987 the software became available to franchise from the programmer, Jon Boede. The number of local systems grew to about a dozen, and became funded by user subscriptions. This business model allowed for each system to be moved into a commercial office environment for stability.
In September 1998, the system became burdened by having to provide direct dial-in over modems and a decision was made to move to the Internet exclusively.
At the height of the distributed franchise model in 1998, the number of national systems exceeded 60. An agreement was reached to centralize in Bedford, Texas
and incorporate with the name Matchmaker.com. Private stock was issued and there were approximately 12 administrators and employees. Patrick M. O'Leary became the company's president.
. Each system catered to a geographic area (code) allowing users to find like interests. The original BBS based system only catered to local computer savvy users within a local telephone area code. However, exchange of email between systems and profiles was later implemented using sendmail
and uuencoding making uucp
and, ultimately the internet, the Matchmaker network backbone. The Matchmaker network was featured in the first edition of "!%@:: a directory of electronic mail addressing and networks" as one of the larger email networks prior to the rise of the Internet.
In late 1992, the ASCII
BBS style was extended to also be a telnet
-based service, allowing access from anywhere in the world without the need for telephone long distance charges. A year later, the web-based front end was created. The first Matchmaker system to receive the new version was the largest of the communities at the time, "Christie's Matchmaker" (see below). Other Matchmaker franchises quickly also adopted the web based front-end.
In the late 1990s, each of the franchisees agreed to consolidate, centralize, and combine their resources. In 1998, Matchmaker incorporated and relocated all of the Matchmaker servers to Bedford, Texas
.
In the very early days of the mainstream Internet ('90-'97), Matchmaker.com had over 4 million users with up to 230 million page views per month. This explosive growth generated millions of dollars per annum. Unlike Internet companies of today, Matchmaker.com accomplished its substantial growth with revenues solely generated by the company and not infused or borrowed capital. Its rapidly growing network was in competition with today’s well-known companies such as; Match.com, AOL and Yahoo Personals. Even with this robust group of market competitors, Matchmaker.com became the number one singles and dating network on the Internet. While the company was growing, the "Internet Bubble" crash of 2000 took place. In spite of that crash, the company continued to garner serious financial respect. Matchmaker was purchased by Lycos
for $44.5 million cash, and all Matchmaker related assets (including fourteen employees) were moved to Waltham, Massachusetts
. Unfortunately, the site subsequently has declined in popularity (due in part to competition and a decrease in advertising following the acquisition.)
In January 2006, the site was purchased by Date.com (They still use the Matchmaker.com name.).
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
(and, prior to the internet, dial-up) dating service. It was founded in 1986, making it the oldest of the current online dating sites. From 2000 to January 2006, it was run by Lycos
Lycos
Lycos, Inc. is a search engine and web portal established in 1994. Lycos also encompasses a network of email, webhosting, social networking, and entertainment websites.-Corporate history:...
. In January 2006, it was purchased by Date.com.
Matchmaker.com aligns members into one of several demographic or geographic communities, with only limited communication between members of different communities.
Members would complete a questionnaire which consists of several multiple-choice items as well as some essay questions where you can fill in more specific information about yourself such as "What are your hobbies and interests?" or "What would you ideal first date be like?" When one searched for a potential match, matches were ranked according to the percentage of identical responses you have to the responses in someone else's profile in the multiple-choice section of the questionnaire. You could also sort your match list by distance from your zip code
ZIP Code
ZIP codes are a system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service since 1963. The term ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan, is properly written in capital letters and was chosen to suggest that the mail travels more efficiently, and therefore more quickly, when senders use the...
to the zip code of the matches.
Origin
Matchmaker.com originated from a Bulletin Board SystemBulletin board system
A Bulletin Board System, or BBS, is a computer system running software that allows users to connect and log in to the system using a terminal program. Once logged in, a user can perform functions such as uploading and downloading software and data, reading news and bulletins, and exchanging...
created by Gregory Scott Smith in San Antonio, Texas in March 1983. It began as a dial-up system running on a single Apple II+ with a modem. Shortly afterwards, it was ported to a Microsoft Xenix
Xenix
Xenix is a version of the Unix operating system, licensed to Microsoft from AT&T in the late 1970s. The Santa Cruz Operation later acquired exclusive rights to the software, and eventually superseded it with SCO UNIX ....
–based Tandy 6000 microcomputer and re-written in MBASIC
MBASIC
MBASIC is the Microsoft BASIC implementation of BASIC for the CP/M operating system. MBASIC is a descendant of the original Altair BASIC interpreters that were among Microsoft's first products. MBASIC was one of the two versions of BASIC bundled with the Osborne 1 computer...
, and then re-written again in C
C (programming language)
C is a general-purpose computer programming language developed between 1969 and 1973 by Dennis Ritchie at the Bell Telephone Laboratories for use with the Unix operating system....
by programmer Jon Boede. It was originally conceived as a pen-pal network for everyone. There were no membership fees and the system operated on user donations.
In 1985 the system was relocated to Houston, Texas and operated on four dial-up lines. The following year, two other systems were networked and allowed users in San Antonio, Texas and San Jose, California to join the "date-a-base".
In 1987 the software became available to franchise from the programmer, Jon Boede. The number of local systems grew to about a dozen, and became funded by user subscriptions. This business model allowed for each system to be moved into a commercial office environment for stability.
In September 1998, the system became burdened by having to provide direct dial-in over modems and a decision was made to move to the Internet exclusively.
At the height of the distributed franchise model in 1998, the number of national systems exceeded 60. An agreement was reached to centralize in Bedford, Texas
Bedford, Texas
Bedford is a suburban city located in northeast Tarrant County, Texas, in the "Mid-Cities" area between Dallas and Fort Worth. It is a suburb of Fort Worth. The population was 46,979 at the 2010 census...
and incorporate with the name Matchmaker.com. Private stock was issued and there were approximately 12 administrators and employees. Patrick M. O'Leary became the company's president.
History
The original site started in 1986 was in the form of a Dial-up Bulletin board systemBulletin board system
A Bulletin Board System, or BBS, is a computer system running software that allows users to connect and log in to the system using a terminal program. Once logged in, a user can perform functions such as uploading and downloading software and data, reading news and bulletins, and exchanging...
. Each system catered to a geographic area (code) allowing users to find like interests. The original BBS based system only catered to local computer savvy users within a local telephone area code. However, exchange of email between systems and profiles was later implemented using sendmail
Sendmail
Sendmail is a general purpose internetwork email routing facility that supports many kinds of mail-transfer and -delivery methods, including the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol used for email transport over the Internet....
and uuencoding making uucp
UUCP
UUCP is an abbreviation for Unix-to-Unix Copy. The term generally refers to a suite of computer programs and protocols allowing remote execution of commands and transfer of files, email and netnews between computers. Specifically, a command named uucp is one of the programs in the suite; it...
and, ultimately the internet, the Matchmaker network backbone. The Matchmaker network was featured in the first edition of "!%@:: a directory of electronic mail addressing and networks" as one of the larger email networks prior to the rise of the Internet.
In late 1992, the ASCII
ASCII
The American Standard Code for Information Interchange is a character-encoding scheme based on the ordering of the English alphabet. ASCII codes represent text in computers, communications equipment, and other devices that use text...
BBS style was extended to also be a telnet
TELNET
Telnet is a network protocol used on the Internet or local area networks to provide a bidirectional interactive text-oriented communications facility using a virtual terminal connection...
-based service, allowing access from anywhere in the world without the need for telephone long distance charges. A year later, the web-based front end was created. The first Matchmaker system to receive the new version was the largest of the communities at the time, "Christie's Matchmaker" (see below). Other Matchmaker franchises quickly also adopted the web based front-end.
In the late 1990s, each of the franchisees agreed to consolidate, centralize, and combine their resources. In 1998, Matchmaker incorporated and relocated all of the Matchmaker servers to Bedford, Texas
Bedford, Texas
Bedford is a suburban city located in northeast Tarrant County, Texas, in the "Mid-Cities" area between Dallas and Fort Worth. It is a suburb of Fort Worth. The population was 46,979 at the 2010 census...
.
In the very early days of the mainstream Internet ('90-'97), Matchmaker.com had over 4 million users with up to 230 million page views per month. This explosive growth generated millions of dollars per annum. Unlike Internet companies of today, Matchmaker.com accomplished its substantial growth with revenues solely generated by the company and not infused or borrowed capital. Its rapidly growing network was in competition with today’s well-known companies such as; Match.com, AOL and Yahoo Personals. Even with this robust group of market competitors, Matchmaker.com became the number one singles and dating network on the Internet. While the company was growing, the "Internet Bubble" crash of 2000 took place. In spite of that crash, the company continued to garner serious financial respect. Matchmaker was purchased by Lycos
Lycos
Lycos, Inc. is a search engine and web portal established in 1994. Lycos also encompasses a network of email, webhosting, social networking, and entertainment websites.-Corporate history:...
for $44.5 million cash, and all Matchmaker related assets (including fourteen employees) were moved to Waltham, Massachusetts
Waltham, Massachusetts
Waltham is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, was an early center for the labor movement, and major contributor to the American Industrial Revolution. The original home of the Boston Manufacturing Company, the city was a prototype for 19th century industrial city planning,...
. Unfortunately, the site subsequently has declined in popularity (due in part to competition and a decrease in advertising following the acquisition.)
In January 2006, the site was purchased by Date.com (They still use the Matchmaker.com name.).
External links
- Matchmaker.com
- Web archive of Christie's Matchmaker, the first web-based Matchmaker-affiliated site.
- Mobile datingMobile datingMobile dating services, also known as cell dating, cellular dating, or cell phone dating, allow individuals to chat, flirt, meet, and possibly become romantically involved by means of text messaging, mobile chatting, and the mobile web....