The History of the Web

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Sidenotes

Web Apps, Web Sites, Are they all the Same?

Published: May 17, 2022

Is a website the same as a web application? That question is older than you think

Sidenotes

Was Queen Elizabeth II a keen surfer of the early web?

Published: April 19, 2022

I recently went on a bit of a journey to figure out: did Queen Elizabeth surf the early web?

The Long Tail of Uselessness

Published: March 22, 2022

When Paul Phillips the web is at its best when its being useless he did the only thing he could think of. He built his own useless site to catalog it.

Sidenotes

The Most Influential Website of All Time

Published: March 8, 2022

There’s one site that is connected to Facebook, YouTube, Yahoo!, Twitter, and many others. And you probably never think about it.

This Month's Weblog

November 2020 Weblog: Weird Web, Independent Web

21st Century Community

Published: February 1, 2022

In 1999, the word “community” took on a new meaning on the web. One that would have a lasting impact for years to come.

Giving Web Standards a Seat at the Table

Published: January 19, 2022

In 2007, the web standards project entered the scene once more to push Microsoft to build its most standards-compliant browser to date.

Web Components Before Web Components

Published: January 4, 2022

A decade before modern day web components, Microsoft had already hit on a formula for their success.

Weblogs

Want to Get in Touch? and a November 2020 Weblog

Published: November 29, 2021

Recently, I’ve been told that my email has been bouncing some messages back, so if you tried to email me […]

We Made These Sites for Kids?

Published: November 16, 2021

From Yahooligans! to Club Penguin, the kinds of sites we made for kids on the early web were a bit unsteady, but formative and fun for the first web generation.

Features

The Intranet saved the Internet

Published: November 2, 2021

In 1998, Netscape announced a bold new plan to the world. One announcement was expected. The other took the tech world by surprise.

Features

The mid-90’s was the era of the City Guide

Published: October 19, 2021

1996 was the year of the city guide. By 1998, they were already gone.

From designing interfaces to designing systems

Published: October 5, 2021

The mid-2000’s were often referred to as the era of Web 2.0. That may have been an overused term, but it undeniably changed the way designers and developers approached their practice through patterns.

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The History of the Web is a project by Jay Hoffmann. Get in touch.