The Wayback Machine Shows History of the Internet

 

One of the more infuriating things about the Internet is when a website closes down.

You might follow a favorite writer’s blog, save links to helpful articles, and share interesting posts on social media. But then one day, you return to the website to discover that it is gone.

The site does not exist anymore. All of the useful stories and information are now missing¹. It is like they never existed.

The good news is that you may be able to find those sites again, even after they are offline. You can find help from a website called the Wayback Machine.

What the Wayback Machine Is

The Wayback Machine site shows a kind of history of the internet. It shows websites that are no longer online and older versions³ of current sites.

The Wayback Machine provides archived records of publicly available websites. Not all websites or versions of sites are available, but many are.

How to Use the Wayback Machine

To see the archived images, go to the Wayback Machine website and enter the web address of the site you want to see.

You must enter the exact web address, not just the site’s name.

For example, if you want to see an earlier version² of the Learning⁴ English website, you would enter learningenglish.voanews.com, not the words “Voice of America Learning English.”

Click the Browse⁵ History button.

On the results page, you will see how many times the website has been archived and information showing when the site was saved.

You can click on a year to see the exact date the site was saved. A blue dot on a date shows the page was saved on that day.

Click on a date with a blue dot to see what the website looked like on that date.

You can only search for the home page of a website. But once you go to the archive, you may be able to find the story you are looking for on the site.

Saving⁶ a Website to The Wayback Machine

If you want to save an older version of a website, you can do that at the bottom of the Wayback Machine website’s home page. Enter the web address of the page you want saved and hit enter.

The Wayback Machine Beta Version

The Wayback Machine recently launched⁷ a beta or test version that lets you search for older websites by keywords.

Unlike the original version, the beta version lets you enter search terms to try to find websites you cannot remember. It can also help users⁸ when they do not know the exact web address.

To use the beta version, go to Beta Wayback Machine. Enter the search term and hit enter. You will see a list of results that match your term.

For example, in the Beta version, you can enter "GeoCities" and see a list of GeoCities websites in different countries.

How the Wayback Machine Started

The Internet has a history -- perhaps not a long history, but a rich one. The Wayback Machine was based on a computer software program developed in 1996 to document websites, saving the history of the internet.

The Wayback Machine website was launched in 2001, using a version of that software.

Since that time, the Wayback Machine has expanded quickly, as has much of the Internet.

The site was named after the WABAC Machine, a time machine used by a boy and his dog on The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, a 1960s television series.

Ideas for Using the Wayback Machine

You can use the Wayback Machine to find closed websites, such as GeoCities, which is now only available in Japan.

If you are thinking of buying a domain⁹ name, see how it was used before in its earlier life on the internet. If the site was used mainly for spam or unwanted advertising¹⁰, you may not want to use that web address for your site.

You can also see how a website looked in the past and follow its design over the years.

Words in This Story

infuriate - v. to make (someone) very angry

article - n. a piece of writing about a particular subject that is included in a website, magazine, newspaper, etc.

offline - adj. not connected to a computer or network

archive - v. to collect and store materials (such as recordings¹¹, documents, or computer files) so that they can be found and used when they are needed

address - n. the letters, numbers, and symbols that are used to show the location of a site on the Internet

click - v. to press a button on a mouse or some other device¹² in order to make something happen on a computer?

beta - adj. a version of a product (such as a computer program) that is almost finished and that is used for testing

keyword - n. a word that is used to find information in a piece of writing, in a computer document, or on the Internet

original - adj. made or produced first

match - v. to provide, produce, or do something that is equal to (something else)

domain name - n. the characters that form the main part of an Internet address

1 missing   

adj.遗失的，缺少的，失踪的

参考例句：

• Check the tools and see if anything is missing.检点一下工具，看有无丢失。
• All the others are here;he's the only one missing.别人都来了，就短他一个。

2 version   

n.版本；型号；叙述，说法

参考例句：

• His version of the events is pure supposition.他对这件事的说法纯属猜测。
• What is your version of this matter?你对这件事情的看法 怎么样？

3 versions   

n.译本( version的名词复数 )；版本；（个人对事件的）描述；（原物的）变体

参考例句：

• There are two versions of the game, a long one and a short one. 这游戏有两个版本，一长一短。
• When both versions of the story were collated,major discrepancies were found. 在将这个故事的两个版本对照后，找出了主要的不符之处。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

5 browse   

vi.随意翻阅，浏览；(牛、羊等)吃草

参考例句：

• I had a browse through the books on her shelf.我浏览了一下她书架上的书。
• It is a good idea to browse through it first.最好先通篇浏览一遍。

6 saving   

n.节省，节约；[pl.]储蓄金，存款

参考例句：

• Energy saving is term strategic policy of our country.节约能源是我国长期的战略国策。
• Old-fashioned housewives were usually very saving.旧时的家庭主妇通常都很节俭。

7 launched   

v.发射( launch的过去式和过去分词 )；[计算机]开始（应用程序）；发动；开展（活动、计划等）

参考例句：

• He launched a bitter diatribe against the younger generation. 他对年轻一代发起了猛烈的抨击。
• The product was launched amid much fanfare worldwide. 这个产品在世界各地隆重推出。

8 users   

用户，使用者( user的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The new software will prove a boon to Internet users. 这种新软件将会对互联网用户大有益处。
• Ramps should be provided for wheelchair users. 应该给轮椅使用者提供坡道。

9 domain   

n.(活动等)领域，范围；领地，势力范围

参考例句：

• This information should be in the public domain.这一消息应该为公众所知。
• This question comes into the domain of philosophy.这一问题属于哲学范畴。

10 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

11 recordings   

n.记录( recording的名词复数 )；录音；录像；唱片

参考例句：

• a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
• old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐

12 device   

n.器械，装置；计划，策略，诡计

参考例句：

• The device will be in production by the end of the year.该装置将于年底投入生产。
• The device will save much time and effort for us.这种装置会使我们节省大量时间和气力。