Ddc.com

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Detroit Download Central

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Those computers in the cellar…

In 1996, Dave Hardy had a basement full of computers. It was Detroit Download Central, his bulletin board system, and the Internet was about to make the whole enterprise obsolete. Dave was a true geek, a geek’s geek, and a basement full of computers was a terrible thing to waste. So Detroit Download Central became an Internet Services Provider. There were three of us then. One handled hardware, one handled software and one handled everything else. We settled on a fairly simple mission because, after all, we were new to this. The goal of Detroit Download Central (now DDC.com) was simply to be all things to all people. We felt this gave us some latitude.

The on-line city…

The first step in being all things to all people was to construct a giant web site – our online city. The city was an Internet freeway with side roads leading off to special interest pages composed of selected links to regional sites, humor sites, travel sites and more. The online city also featured exclusive content including our popular Chef’s Corner, Dog Training Basics, Tale Waggers and Nap Time Notes. The computers came out of Dave’s basement - faster connections – more hardware – the thing just GREW. The on-line city was redesigned and expanded. People from all over the world were using DDC.com as a resource for reference material and entertainment.

The volunteer connection…

We agreed from the start that we wanted to be more than just strictly a commercial venture. We decided to help non-profits use the Internet to promote themselves. Thanks to Dave, a number of non-profit organizations were able to have a presence on the World Wide Web early on – and free of charge. Organizations that benefited from his generosity include: Children’s Home of Detroit, Michigan Animal Rescue League and the Michigan Magazine public television show. DDC hosted web sites from the San Diego Jaycees to the Accordion Club of Amsterdam. Eventually other commitments forced the three of us to spend less and less time on DDC, but Dave wouldn’t let it go. Even after we set aside the commercial development of DDC, Dave continued to maintain the servers and e-mail to keep our non-profit customers connected. The cost came out of Dave’s pocket. As they say at the Children’s Home of Detroit, he was a “champion for change”.