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Babelmachine

Because the revolution will not be televised, but blogged

by Joey Alarilla, Philippines

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What was the first Web site you created?

Oct 29, 2009 15:11

Reading fellow CNET Asia blogger Lim Sheng Ming's requiem to GeoCities got me all nostalgic, because like I commented on his post, I created my very first Web site on GeoCities in 1998.

I haven't seen that site in years, but it turns out that Darkspiral's Babel Machine is preserved on Archive.org. Man, this dates me, hehe, but let me tell you, nothing compares with the geeky joy of creating a Web site for the first time. I decided to devote that first site to promoting science fiction and fantasy writing in the Philippines.

Waxing nostalgic, I shared that link to people on my social networks, and asked them how they learned to create Webpages. In my case, in 1998, I searched the Web for tutorials and found the site The Bare Bones Guide to HTML. That's how I learned about the magic of HTML, and I coded using Notepad and GeoCities' Advanced Editor.

The responses I got from people were a nostalgic trip that reminded me of how far we've come from the early days of the Web. Some also relied on Notepad, while others mentioned using HTML editors such as CoffeeCup, Hotdog, Microsoft FrontPage, DreamWeaver, and Netscape Composer. A few others also mentioned using free Webhosting sites such as Angelfire, while another said he learned early on to rely on blogs such as Blogger.com and LiveJournal some time in 2000 or 2001.

I guess most of us would grimace if we look back at our first Web site, but still, you had to feel a sense of accomplishment if you were creating personal Webpages back when the Web wasn't really that mainstream. We can take an online presence for granted now since many people have their own blogs or profiles on social networks. But it was pretty geeky back then to create your own site.

Today, we have instant publishing tools such as blogs that enable us to concentrate on content rather than coding. This is a good thing because no matter how tech-savvy you are, coding is tedious. Still, it's also good to look back on those simpler times, when the Web was a strange new world for most people, many of whom saw it as a novelty--or even a frightening place.

Some of those who responded were sheepish upon remembering the number of animated GIFs they placed on their sites. I'll be the first to admit I was one of those who went overboard on those GIFs, as well as Java applets, heh. And who could forget all those "best of Web" awards that you could display on your site? How about all those Webrings and link exchanges? Guestbooks, anyone?

Looking at our old sites is like listening to the music or looking at the clothes we wore as teens. Part of us will yearn for those more innocent days, and part of us will cringe at what we and our peers once considered cool.

Personally, however, I'm grateful to have seen how much the online culture has evolved, and how we now take for granted many technological advances. I remember back in those Dark Ages of dial-up adding free Webcasts to my sites, being a believer in multimedia back when the world wasn't even ready yet for it. How many young people today can imagine a time when we didn't have YouTube?

R.I.P., GeoCities. And thanks for the memories.

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noemidado

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noemidado says...
I can't remember the exact URL in angelfire.com, then I also had in Geocities. Sometime 1996, worldkids.net requested me to head their internet safety site. This was the first website I did and I wanted to be anonymous. Good thing they had a name for me -Robotica

web.archive.org...

all glittery and so black. Graphics were not mine. Text was mine though.

Web 1.0 involved creating the structure, coding and content. I hated using HTML editors so I preferred coding it myself. Good old days. Virtual Asia sponsored my internet connection via my daughter who was also active in worldkids.net. it was 500 pesos for 15 hours then.

Oct 29, 2009 17:15

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babelmachine

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babelmachine says...
hi noemi, thanks for visiting. awesome internet safety site haha man those were the glittery days!

i remember virtual asia.

yup, when push comes to shove, it's great to be able to do your own coding.

cheers!

Oct 29, 2009 18:12

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About Joey Alarilla

Joey Alarilla is the Multimedia Head a.k.a. The Catalyst of Manila-based Level Up! Inc., the PLDT Group's online gaming company. He is a doting dad, avid gamer, and pro wrestling fan. Visit his personal blog and follow him on Twitter. You may also add him to your Facebook, or follow him on Plurk and Yahoo! Meme.