Happy 25th birthday, Dotcom

March 15, 1985: Symbolics, a computer company, registered the very first ".com" domain name, spinning an early thread in what would become the World Wide Web. A mere 25 years later, millions of us pay daily homage to that creation by frittering away our time, sometimes 24/7, tweeting, blogging, and posting our brilliant insights on social networks.

This is a perfect moment to an take a breather from surfing and—with no disrespect to such cyberspace icons as YouTube, Hulu, Facebook, and Twitter—contemplate the tradeoffs we've made since the Web began to pull us in.

As complex as our relationships with dotcoms have become, maybe this quick poll is a little simplistic. (It's definitely not scientific.)  But you will be able to see instantly how your fellow readers feel, and that's something you couldn't have done 25 years ago.

—Nick K. Mandle