Web talk: then vs. now

Posted on Apr 5, 2010 in Language, Misc., Web Dev | 0 comments

As any good web developer knows, the internet is not static. Development methodologies change, new versions of browsers and technologies are released and sometimes supported. The same is true of the language of the web. I’m not talking about HTML5 or PHP or whatever; I mean how we as a culture actually refer to using the web. Since its “birth” around, oh, 1994 or so, until now there’s been a noticeable shift in how people speak and write about the internet. It’s an interesting study and while I don’t claim to know all about it, here are some observations.

[TABLE=2]

And though I couldn’t think of a current equivalent for the table above, I’d be remiss if I didn’t at least mention a non-http protocol that used to be so popular: gopher. Interesting that another protocol, FTP has remained popular and widely used for uploading and downloading files from webservers.

Finally, no post about the evolution of web talk would be complete without a culminating example. So, put on your C&C Music Factory CD, turn down the TV airing President Clinton’s last state-of-the-union speech, and click here to visit Richard Beardmore’s site. Oh, it would help if you used IE 5 because all the pages are optimized for it. Seeing the flashing animated GIFs, scrolling marquee message in the status bar, and admonishments to view in 800 x 600 or higher resolution (in the site’s title, no less!), it’s a wonder the web ever became a solid platform for serious business and information exchange. But it sure was fun!

There must be other terms and tools that were important to the infancy of the web. Contribute your thoughts in the comments.

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