to any region wanting representation in cyber space. One of the 'Virtual hebrides' most notable innovations was the use of maps and over-laid satellite images as a central search interface. Despite there being serious interest from a number of potential purchasers of 'Region In A Box' and Eolas Media as a progressive media convergent company, before agreements were made, the company found themselves in financial difficulties and went into voluntary liquidation. By 2000 both the Virtual Hebrides and Eòlas Media were no more. While its influence can be overstated, especially in the southern Outer Hebrides, (it was based in Stornoway, Lewis), it was at least partly responsible for opening up the Hebrides to new ways of working. Some Hebrideans began to look to new media for their living. It was realised that, in the world of the internet, geographical location was suddenly less important. Subsequently, an initiative in North Lochs championed remote work, a call centre became one Stornoway's largest employers and a campaign for reasonably priced broadband started in the islands. Incidentally, whilst by no means the first use of the word ('virtual reality' had been around since 1989)), perhaps due to this website, the prefix "Virtual" became endemic on the World Wide Web for a while in the mid-1990s. Within a few months of the failure of the original Virtual Hebrides various attempts were made to resurrect the site. A number of local sites were amalgamated with an archive of the original site to create a new site. External links The Photography of Sam Maynard Outer Hebrides Community websites Scottish websites