What will popular Internet sites look like 10 years down the road?
To imagine the future, the first step is to look at the past.
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But how can you revisit old sites that are now abandoned or refurbished? A few tools such as the Wayback Machine exist, but many sites fall through the cracks.
Enter Digital Archaeology, the first ever archaeological dig of the Internet. The event was held recently in London as part of Internet Week Europe.
Digital Archaeology explored 15 websites that were once cutting-edge in their field. The aim was to highlight the rapid evolution of online sites and to preserve the social history of online life.
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Jim Boulton, the managing director of the advertising firm Story Worldwide, spearheaded the initiative. He spent months with colleagues reviving formerly big web presences.
And reviving the past involved leg-work. Boulton and team hashed through defunct code and forgotten links. Relatively speaking, sites that were only 13 years old compared to archiving former civilizations.
Vodafone, MTV2 and Ikea were among the companies whose sites were showcased.
Photo credit: Getty Images
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