Evolution of Netscape.com 12-9-09

Recently, I looked through Archive.org for the the past designs of the Netscape website. Netscape used to be one of the early browsers in the World Wide Web's history. It had since "died" as a browser and lives on only as an AOL-owned website.

Netscape 1996

The website started out simple and was actually only a platform from which Netscape could sell their software and offer downloads of their browser.

Netscape 1998

In 1998, America Online(AOL) bought Netscape and the site's design had changed. It was no longer just a platform to distribute Netscape software. The website now distributed AOL Instant Messenger and had more topics to cover.

Netscape 2009 compared with AOL.com 2009

After Netscape discontinued its browser service, AOL redesigned its website. The design actually looks almost the same as AOL's main website and offers the same services.

Works Cited

"Netscape -." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Web. 09 Dec. 2009. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netscape.com].

Evolution of Deviantart.com 12-8-09

I've searched through Archive.org for old versions of today's websites. Today's entry will be a bit unorthodox, because today, I will be discussing Deviantart.com. Deviantart is a type of online community where you can submit digital or traditional art, gain feedback on said art, and make friends. It also has a forum and chat rooms. I have first experienced Deviantart around 2005.

Deviantart.com 2000

This site was much smaller back then, and featured less art as well. It also has a small list of categories of art in the left column of the site.

Deviantart 2009

The site has become very popular and now displays thumbnails of art. Just like its 2000 counterpart, it still contains a list of categories of art in the left column. However, they have added more subcategories to each one. It also shows what art has been popular, how popular and for how long.

Vischeck 12-8-09

http://www.vischeck.com/

I'm taking a break from "Evolution" blog entries to introduce people to this website called Vischeck.
Vischeck is a website devoted to colorblindness.

It has a colorblind image simulator that simulates three types of colorblindness:

• Deuteranopia(red/green colorblindness; the most common type)
• Protanopia(a less common type of red/green colorblindness)
• Tritanopia(the rarest type of colorblindness; blue/yellow colorblindness)

This is a normal color wheel:

This is how the three different types of colorblind people see the same wheel:

Deuteranope(Red/Green)



Protanope(Red/Green)

Deuteranopes and Protanopes see a normal color wheel only in shades and tints of blue and yellow.

Tritanope(Blue/Yellow)

In contrast to red/green colorblind people, tritanopes only see a color wheel in shades and tints of pink and aqua.

I think this site is interesting, because it allows us to empathize with colorblind people and see what they see.

Evolution of Ask.com 12-5-09

Ask.com 1998

I've recently searched through archive.com's Wayback Machine in order to look for old designs for the search engine Ask.com, or in this picture, as it was formerly called, Ask Jeeves! Jeeves was the butler mascot for the site until 2005. As for the design of the site, it was very compact, as were search engines such as Google and Yahoo!(see previous posts).

Ask.com 2006

This design was after the website phased out its mascot Jeeves. It was renamed to Ask.com and had a simpler layout than the older design. And used two main colors: red and white.

Ask.com 2009

The current design for the site now advertises "today's deals and has selectable backgrounds". However, it remains as simple as the 2006 design. It seems that Ask.com and Google followed the same parallel path when it comes to "keeping it simple".

Evolution of AOL.com 12-2-09

Recently, I have searched through archive.org to find old versions of websites in order to trace their evolutions. Today's blog entry will focus on AOL.com. AOL.com is the eponymous home website for the internet provider America Online.

This is America Online's logo. It is mainly blue. This is another element to consider when look at the evolution of the site.

AOL.com 1996

This website design was from the holiday season of 1996, which implies holidays such as Christmas. The red in the site represents one of the main colors of Christmas. It also represents poinsettias, the flowers that are usually present during Christmas. There is blue in the links on the left hand side of the site, which match the colors in the logo shown above. This is also very simple compared to later versions of the site.

Aol.com 2008

Note: the CSS in this design is messed up because of the archiving process.

Aol.com 2009

The current design of the site has a modified logo, but it maintains a bluish color, just like its old logo. It, like MSN.com and Yahoo!, forewent simplicity in favor of the "wealth of information; poverty of attention" theory referred to in the MSN.com blog entry. It also features a search engine at the top of the page, like Yahoo.

Evolution of Wikipedia 12-1-09

Recently, I have searched through archive.org to find old versions of websites in order to trace their evolutions. Today's blog entry will focus on Wikipedia. Wikipedia is a collaborative website where users contribute information from other sources to a certain topic or topics.

Wikipedia 2001

Wikipedia, at its beginnings, was very expansive and organized, but not exactly as streamlined and diverse in audience as the later versions.

Wikipedia 2008

Since then, Wikipedia has evolved and caters to more than one language. They even created a new logo, which resembles a globe made of puzzle pieces. The puzzle pieces symbolize the information that the user contributes to a biography, concept, or topic, making a more complete picture of the world and its history as a whole.

Wikipedia 2009

One year later, Wikipedia expanded even more and allows for more languages. How far will this trend continue? Time will tell.

Works Cited

"Wikipedia -." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Web. 01 Dec. 2009. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia].

Evolution of Altavista 12-1-09

Recently, I have searched through archive.org to find old versions of websites in order to trace their evolutions. Today's blog entry will focus on the search engine Altavista. Altavista, according to Wikipedia, had existed since 1995, before Yahoo and Google("AltaVista").

Altavista 1996

This was the earliest version of Altavista that I could find on the Internet Archive, since the oldest year was 1996. This version is very compact compared to a future version.

Altavista 2001

This version was the newest version that the Internet Archive had for "altavista.com". This version was more complex and expanded than the older version and has more topics. This was before Altavista was bought out by Overture Services and Yahoo! in 2003. However, according to Wikipedia, Altavista actually has an alternate web address: http://altavista.digital.com(Altavista).

Altavista 2003

This was in 2003 after Overture and Yahoo had bought Altavista. The search engine has become almost as compact as its 1996 counterpart.

Altavista 2009

Altavista 2009 is virtually unchanged from its 2003 version. The top tabs have become fewer in number in order to reformat the site in order to streamline navigation even more.

Works Cited

"AltaVista -." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Web. 01 Dec. 2009. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altavista].