There is a certain weirdness that still can't be captured in a static archive, including sites that had dynamic server based content. But also the overall feeling of the internet back then. For example, pre-web I recall being able to telnet to a CD store and do a search, then place an order. The telnet interface acted a lot like a BBS.
Then there is the shared cultural knowledge at the time, such as Adam Curry (I think?) who on his own created MTV.com. Then later got sued and had to had the domain over when they realized there was value to it. On top of that, there was one of the first spoof pages I recall, "Madam Furry", which poked fun at Adam Curry's page. (Hopefully I'm remembering all these names correctly).
And lets not forget about Gopher, with Veronica and Archie, along with something else called WAIS (Wide Area Information Services), which always seem very slow and barely workable.
Oh, and how did we figure out the who/what/where? The Internet Yellow Pages, of course. Thick book that had everything categorized. I've still got mine around, brought it into work to put in the commons area book shelf.
The mtv.com thing is correct. He was working for MTV at the time, then left and kept building the web pages. There wasn't then a precedent about domain names being connected to trademarks. I don't remember Madam Furry.
WAIS has an interesting connection to the Internet Archive.
Long before the Internet Yellow Pages, we used Scott Yanoff's Internet services list. That's how I found out about the WWW. Also there was a big list of sites that allowed anonymous FTP.
Then there is the shared cultural knowledge at the time, such as Adam Curry (I think?) who on his own created MTV.com. Then later got sued and had to had the domain over when they realized there was value to it. On top of that, there was one of the first spoof pages I recall, "Madam Furry", which poked fun at Adam Curry's page. (Hopefully I'm remembering all these names correctly).
And lets not forget about Gopher, with Veronica and Archie, along with something else called WAIS (Wide Area Information Services), which always seem very slow and barely workable.
Oh, and how did we figure out the who/what/where? The Internet Yellow Pages, of course. Thick book that had everything categorized. I've still got mine around, brought it into work to put in the commons area book shelf.