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William F. von Meister (February 21, 1942 – May 18, 1995) was an American entrepreneur who founded and participated in a number of startup ventures in the Washington, D.C., area. These included The Source, an early online service and CompuServe competitor, and Control Video Corporation, a predecessor to AOL .
- F.W. von Meister
- February 21, 1942, New York City, United States
- Eleanora Colloredo-Mannsfeld
- May 18, 1995 (aged 53), Great Falls, Virginia, United States
The first purely consumer on-line service in the United States was The Source. It was founded in 1978 by William von Meister, a local telecommunications entrepreneur who envisioned a ‘home information utility’ that would do for computers what AT&T did for telephones.
Jul 17, 2019 · Bill von Meister was a wireless entrepreneur who invented Infocast, a system that broadcast data on FM radio stations in 1977. He also founded Telemax, a long-distance service, and The Source, a consumer network. Learn how he started his career in wholesale liquor, consulted for Litton Bionetics, and became a wireless innovator.
- Michael A. Banks
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Feb 28, 2023 · William Von Meister was an innovative entrepreneur who founded or co-founded more than a dozen companies in various fields, including music distribution, satellite communications, video games, and online education. He also launched The Source and CVC, two of the precursors of modern internet services. He died of cancer in 1995 at the age of 53.
Apr 25, 2014 · Learn about the life and achievements of Bill von Meister, the entrepreneur who founded America Online, invented online gaming and music streaming, and challenged Steve Case and Bill Gates. Listen to this episode of Internet History Podcast for a fascinating and fun story of a pathological innovator.
AOL began in 1983, as a short-lived venture called Control Video Corporation (CVC), founded by William von Meister. Its sole product was an online service called GameLine for the Atari 2600 video game console, after von Meister's idea of buying music on demand was rejected by Warner Bros. [8] Subscribers bought a modem from the company for $49. ...
"William F. Von Meister, 53, a local communications entrepreneur, who had been founder and chief executive officer of a number of high-tech and consulting firms, died of cancer on May 18th at his home in Great Falls," it read in part. But not anywhere was there a mention of AOL.
