Vertikal.net is celebrating 25 years since going live. The world’s leading website for cranes and access news was launched just in time for Bauma 2001.
The first story was on the German site with the headline:
Der deutsche Markt ist gesättigt
"Der deutsche Markt ist mit Elektroscherenbühnen bis zwölf Meter gesättigt", meint Leopold Mayrhofer, Geschäftsführer von Ring Lift, in einem Gespräch mit den Redakteuren von Kran & Bühne, Tim Whiteman und Rüdiger Kopf.
Which translates as:
The German Market is saturated
"The German market for electric scissor lifts up to 12 metres is saturated," says Leopold Mayrhofer, managing director of Ring Lift, in an interview with Tim Whiteman and Rüdiger Kopf. This article also carried the first ever photograph – a portrait of Mayerhofer.
The first photograph on Vertikal.net - Leopold Mayhofer
– No further photos would appear until Bauma opened on April 4th, when the launch of Ruthmann’s 100m TTS1000 truck mounted lift stole the limelight.
A view from the platform of the TTS1000
The second story was also published on the German site and was an interview with crane rental man Thomas Wiesbauer, which was as downbeat as the first story, stating that demand in the mobile crane market was steadily weakening, causing rental rates to fall 10%.
The first English language story - number 3 - carried the more upbeat headline:
A new force in heavy lifting Mammoet and Hovago Cranes have formed a new joint venture
In 2001, in its first eight months, a total of 158 stories were posted. Today, we post that many stories in a fortnight, and almost all our stories today include a photograph or two.
The first photograph published on the English site was the same Ruthmann TTS photos as on the German site. See: Ruthmann predicts more sales
What many people don’t realise is that all 48,261 stories and 79, 212 photographs we’ve posted over the past 25 years are still in the database and available to read for free. All this, along with 486 magazines and guides, all of which are accessible and downloadable without the need to register. Not to mention the directory, industry Events guide and library.
Just to add some perspective, 25 years ago, the internet was still in its infancy, and Facebook was more than a year away from being established. LinkedIn would still be two years off, while Google and Amazon were in their infancy. Dial-up modems were the way most of us went online, and uploading even a low-resolution photograph took some time, and few companies had their own website.
So, this week we will be celebrating a little, and your ideas are warmly welcomed.
vertikal editor
I agree Mega with the need for more opinion pieces.. its time pressure more than anything - we need to do better and will try - Leigh Sparrow.
mega
A great resource for all things in our Industry. Shame there aren't more cutting edge opinion pieces, but I know why. Keep up the good work in promoting and calling out our industry.
TW
Wow, one year before Facebook, true pioneering stuff! Many, many congratulations to the team at Vertikal for your investigative reporting and for ensuring that Vertikal.net remains a true "must-read" publication for everyone in the industry. "Weiter so!! (which pretty much translates as "more power to your elbow!") :)
vertikal editor
I agree Mega with the need for more opinion pieces.. its time pressure more than anything - we need to do better and will try - Leigh Sparrow.
mega
A great resource for all things in our Industry. Shame there aren't more cutting edge opinion pieces, but I know why. Keep up the good work in promoting and calling out our industry.
TW
Wow, one year before Facebook, true pioneering stuff! Many, many congratulations to the team at Vertikal for your investigative reporting and for ensuring that Vertikal.net remains a true "must-read" publication for everyone in the industry. "Weiter so!! (which pretty much translates as "more power to your elbow!") :)
Harry Sharp
Well done Vertikal. Keep up the good work.