the cartoon marks a notable moment in the history of the internet. once the exclusive domain of government engineers and academics, the internet had by then become a subject of discussion in general interest magazines like "the new yorker". lotus software founder and early internet activist mitch kapor commented in a "time" magazine article in 1993 that "the true sign that popular interest has reached critical mass came this summer when the new yorker printed a cartoon showing two computer-savvy canines".