What did today’s popular websites look like half a decade ago?
Everyone knows that technology improves on a daily basis, making that computer you bought 6 weeks ago practically obsolete. If you are still using a computer from 5 years ago, you are very limited in what you can do. I stumbled across a laptop I owned about 5 years ago, and that got me thinking — What exactly could that laptop do? What did the internet look like on that PC?
Using that as inspiration, I delved into the Way Back Machine. While not everything online has undergone a complete renovation, most things have. Here are 10 of today’s popular sites, seen from 5 years ago. Click the photos for a screenshot of their 2004 web presence.
10. Best Buy (current version) has undergone a major reconstruction in site navigation and functionality. While their logo and color scheme has remained constant, the structure and media on the site has changed dramatically.
9. Wikipedia (current version) still uses a simple black and white design, but the layout has some differences. In addition, they’ve added color in the form of thumbnail photos and other subtle enhancements. Not a complete overhaul, but it has changed.
8. CNN (current version) has experienced a massive change in design in only 5 years. Other than the color scheme and logo placement, the site is completely different today. Navigation, readability, and overall appeal have been increased.
7. The New York Times (current version) has not really changed much at all. The colors, layout, and navigation are all similar to its site half-a-decade ago. As expected, the current version does have much more multimedia capabilities, however.
6. MSN (current version) has made some pretty drastic changes, but the most evident of them all is ad placement. The older version really had minimal ad space above the break, whereas the current version is flooded with ad space. The navigation, amongst other things, has been restructured and moved as well.
5. Dell (current version) has completely changed. There are really NO similarities between the two designs. Even the logos and color schemes have changed! If you understand the computer industry, this all makes sense. Dell has been forced to rethink their image as their market share is not as strong as it once was.
4. Twitter (current version) is nothing like it was 5 years ago. Mainly because the company running Twitter.com today didn’t even exist. If you would have visited Twitter 5 years ago, this is what you would have found.
3. Apple (current version), always leaders in aesthetics, changes their design quite often in comparison to other companies. Notice the complete overhaul from 5 years ago to today. Oh wait, you mean it hasn’t really changed? That’s right, they continue to show large product images, have minor products near the bottom, and have horizontal navigation. Simple does it for Apple.
2. MySpace (current version), facing growing competition from other sites such as Facebook, has been forced to change quite often as they experiment with new technologies. Other than the domain name, nothing is even similar on today’s version of MySpace. Easily one of the most changed popular sites in the last 5 years.
1. YouTube (current version) was a relatively new service 5 years ago. Looking at their old site, you can easily see how far YouTube has traveled in this short time. Now, it is one of the most popular sites on the internet with millions and millions of videos stored. Do you think the old design would be practical today?
It really is amazing how far the internet has come in only 5 short years. If you majored in Web Design in college, imagine how different your lectures and classes would be from your freshmen year to your senior year!
