What was the Internet like 20 years ago? Reminiscing about the Internet's heyday

For the younger generation, they are born in a mature Internet environment. If the memories of ten years ago are still vaguely about Baidu and Taobao, then twenty years ago are completely blank for them. In 2017, a web designer from the Czech Republic developed this website, which preserved the screenshots of major websites in the last century in a timeline format, and then created this online "web museum".

Web Design Museum: https://www.webdesignmuseum.org/

1. Google

​​

Google in 1998

1998 was the era of Internet fever. A large number of netizens searched online for information, and Google, known for its search engine, quickly became everyone's first choice. Unlike today, people's understanding of the Internet was far from in-depth, and even many operations were in urgent need of popularization. Therefore, you will see a lot of guiding language on websites of that era. At the same time, I'm Feeling Lucky (Chinese translation: "Good luck") also became a major feature of Google.

This feature can be said to be the prototype of modern network artificial intelligence. Unlike the traditional method of entering keywords to get a string of search results, I'm Feeling Lucky will automatically open the website ranked first in the search list (the current keyword). So to some extent, it is also testing the accuracy of Google's search. Why is it called I'm Feeling Lucky? It's simple. If the website that the button helps you open (the website ranked first in Google search results) is exactly what you need, it means - you are so lucky!

The evolution of Google's homepage (animated picture)

2. TAOBAO

​​

Taobao in 2003

Compared to Google on the other side of the ocean, TAOBAO is more familiar to millions of Chinese people. Although we have entered the 21st century, when we suddenly look back and take a look at the first generation of Taobao in 2003, we still can't help but exclaim, "Are you sure... this is not a copycat website of XX?", "Could it be... that I bought my first digital camera from this website..."

As the largest e-commerce platform in China, Taobao has naturally experienced a development process from small to large. In its first version, you can clearly see a lot of guiding texts, such as "First time here? Please open an account for free!", "The new search engine is finally released!", "Sincerity for integrity - pay after the goods arrive - and you can return or exchange the goods"... Even in the product column below, you can still see the "auction mode" that has disappeared for a long time.

With the increasing recognition of online shopping and the increasingly stable status of Taobao, TAOBAO has become more and more like a comprehensive trading platform. I don’t need to tell you what to do! I just need to help you find the products you need faster!

The evolution of TAOBAO’s homepage (animated picture)

3. Hao123

​​

Hao123 in 2003

In the history of the development of the Internet in China, hao123 has always been a god-like existence. Although there were some professional search engines such as Baidu and Google, a large number of Chinese netizens did not know how many interesting websites there were to visit. Hao123 took advantage of this opportunity. Its web design is very simple, and even the idea is not very brilliant. It just solved a specific need of the general netizens in a specific way at a specific time. And it is these seemingly ordinary "specifics" that pushed hao123 to a very high status in the industry, and also made its developer Li Xingping easily earn the first pot of gold.

Although hao123's market space was rapidly eroded by the rapid entry of search engines, portals, browsers, etc., it still maintains an average of about 8 million PV views per week and about 4 million IP visits per day (data from Alexa ranking), which is a miracle!

​​​​

hao1234 in 2020. Microsoft

​​

Microsoft in 1996

Compared with other foreign websites, Microsoft has always had a very high status in the hearts of Chinese users. It is precisely because of the great influence of its operating system in the world that Microsoft's web pages rarely pursue the so-called trends, but only incorporate the style of its own software. In this set of design drawings, we can clearly see the Win95 style of 1996, the Win2K style of 2000, the Luna style (WinXP) of 2002, the Windows Live style of 2010, the Modern UI (Win10) of 2016, and the Fluent style (Win10) of 2020. In fact, these are also affecting the entire design field. This may be the charm of the leader!

The evolution of Microsoft's homepage (animated picture)

4. Adobe

​​

Adobe in 1996

As a leader in the design world, Adobe's website has a strong design flavor. Even in 1996, we can see many design elements that are different from other companies. Like Microsoft, Adobe's website also tries to integrate the latest product UI of that year into its own web design. Just as its product line has changed from shallow to deep, Adobe's website design has also changed synchronously, also highlighting the changing trend in the design field over the past 20 years.

The evolution of Adobe's homepage (animated picture)

5. Yahoo

​​

Yahoo in 1994

For most Chinese people, the name Yahoo is not prominent. Perhaps they only heard a few words about it in foreign reports. But if we go back to 20 years ago, its status was just as prosperous as NetEase in China. However, can you imagine that in 1994, it was just a "text board" that was even simpler than hao123!

With the continuous development of the Internet and web technology, Yahoo's business has gradually expanded to search, shopping malls, email, instant messaging, etc., and its web pages are also constantly adapting to these changes. Unfortunately, compared with other competitors, Yahoo's website always seems to be "slow" and has never developed its own style in terms of design. And with portal websites declining day by day, how long can this situation last?

The evolution of Yahoo's homepage (animated picture)

6. Other Websites

In addition to the "big-name" websites introduced above, this museum also preserves many niche websites. Looking back at 20 years ago and then looking at today, perhaps we can truly feel the changes in the booming Internet over the years. The following screenshots are some niche or unknown websites to Chinese users (many of which are foreign websites). What do you feel when you see these?

​​

Taobao's biggest rival - eBay

​​

Another industry giant - Apple

​​

The legendary "Tube" - YouTube

​​

McDonald's uncle is coming! Um, the style of the 1996 painting is quite funny

​​

Space-X, space lovers should know it

​​

The former NOKIA, this was my first mobile phone!

LEGO is always full of childlike fun

Final Thoughts

The above is just the tip of the iceberg of this web museum. In addition, the author has carefully designed multiple headings and categories such as gallery, timeline, Flash animation, old software, web design history, etc. Readers can also browse the website content by browsing, searching, industry, style tags (such as minimalist, retro, collage, decorative, etc.) and other dimensions.

If you also want to take a look at the Internet world of 20 years ago, come here.