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a day ago
- Entertainment
- Buzz Feed
16 Early Internet Websites Only Millennials Remember
Recently, Redditor u/Toomad316 asked those in the Reddit community to share the early internet sites from their childhood that kids these days will never know, and even as a '98 baby, I don't remember some of these! That said, I'm curious to know: do you remember these websites? " —TheTeaSet66"I really wish the old Candystand was still around. I want to play Lifesavers mini-golf again for the nostalgia. I still remember learning about it in study hall because a teacher let one of the football stars play Candystand mini-golf on the smart board. I went home and immediately pulled it up on the family PC to start my own addiction to Candystand. They had so many great games I could play that were way more fun than writing a 20-page Shakespearean tragedy."—Scribe625 "StumbleUpon." —Professional-Sir7115"StumbleUpon was such a gem. I don't know if it was because the internet was smaller back then, but it was so much easier to find diverse, but quality content. These days, it feels like we're stuck to platforms that provide specific types of content and little control over the algorithm."—LostPhenom "I Can Has Cheezburger. I wasted many hours on there." —Majestic-War-7925To jog your memory a bit, this website was known for popularizing cat memes, typically with intentionally misspelled text called "LOLSpeak." " RIP Adobe Flash." —samxmariexThis website was a destination for a bunch of entertaining, flash-based games that anyone could play. But when Adobe Flash Player ceased to exist, became unusable. "Homestar Runner." —anony1911The Homestar Runner website launched in 2000, featuring the Flash-animated web series where people could play games and watch animations. "The old Cartoon Network website. It was a treasure trove of games. I, for one, had a blast making my own Codename: Kids Next Door ID and printing it at my mom's office. Color and all." —vanvonhunter "Napster. The original." —jkb1023jbNapster launched in 1999 and allowed users to download MP3s from other people's hard drives, essentially creating a free online music library. "Addicting Games." —RazzleDazzle1537Addicting Games was a website full of, well, addicting games. From action games, puzzles, mystery games, and more, this site was a go-to for many who were looking to pass the time. "MapQuest." —Pure_Chain5903Before Apple Maps or Google Maps, there was MapQuest. This site gave you directions, but you had to print the directions out or write them down. Oh, and there was no "reroute" option back then, either. "Ask Jeeves." —Thayes1413"ChatGPT is what I thought Ask Jeeves was going to be like in middle school."—C-Fifth "LiveJournal." —Last-Temporary-2877"I kept mine from 2002 all the way to 2023. It's wild seeing all those years represented at the top of the archive page!"—Imaginary-List-4945 The obvious one is MySpace." —BertKekticWidely considered to be the OG of social media, MySpace was a platform where users could create and customize their own profile, upload pictures, make friends, and just post updates about their lives. "GeoCities." —RogueWedgeGeoCities allowed people to create and publish their own websites. The site would place the different websites into "neighborhoods," even giving them special "street addresses." "Neopets." —BlackaandWhite2024Neopets was a virtual game launched in 1999 where users can adopt, customize, and interact with creatures called Neopets in the world of Neopia. "LimeWire. Is this file an album? Is it a virus? Is it porn? Let's find out!" —ImissyoudarlinSimilar to Napster, LimeWire allowed users to share and download files (music, movies, etc.) from other users for free. Lastly: "eBaum's World." —DaveyMuldowney"Reddit before Reddit. Until I realized they were just reposting shit from other sites. But yeah, all of those early 2000s memes? I got them from eBaum's."—sckurvee I honestly miss the old Cartoon Network, Disney Channel, and Nickelodeon websites so much! I used to play That's So Raven pinball for hours. What's a website from your childhood that kids nowadays know nothing about? Let's talk about it in the comments, or you can anonymously submit your stories using the form below!
Daily Mirror
05-05-2025
- Daily Mirror
Brits are only just realising sad reason why 'Ask Jeeves' disappeared
Ask Jeeves was a popular question-answering service that was launched in 1996, and quickly became a household name, but the "Jeeves" name was phased out in 2006 If you're a '90s kid, then you're bound to remember the days of Ask Jeeves before Google took over our screens. Launched in 1996 by entrepreneurs Garrett Gruener and David Warthen in Berkeley, California, the question-answering platform fast became a household name. It was Gary Chevsky who brought the software to life, although the actual development of the early website was the brainchild of Warthen, alongside Chevsky, Justin Grant and other key players. Who could forget that avuncular virtual butler Jeeves, who helped us trawl through the web for answers? Jeeves might even be considered a sort of trailblazer before Google stepped in. Despite being an internet staple for the better part of a decade, his departure from the limelight was notably understated. A Reddit post recently reignited the discussion, prompting users to reminisce. It read: "What ever happened to just Ask Jeeves? I used just Ask Jeeves all the time. Is that what Siri took the place of?" Curiosity among the online community soared with the Reddit query, leading to a flurry of theories about what happened to the iconic search buddy. Responses flooded in, with a mix of nostalgia and speculation. One person quipped: "Nobody thought to ask how is Jeeves." Another added: "They rebranded to There were those who looked back fondly, as one user said: "I always thought that 'Jeeves' was such an easy thing to remember when I was learning about computers." The "Jeeves" moniker was dropped in 2006 as the brand pivoted to focus on its search engine, which boasted a unique algorithm. However, by late 2010, it found itself struggling against more popular search engines like Google. This led to the company outsourcing its web search technology and returning to its roots as a question-and-answer site. In its prime, "Jeeves" was the name of a "gentleman's personal gentleman", or valet, who could provide answers to any query posed. The character's name was inspired by Jeeves, the valet of Bertie Wooster in P. G. Wodehouse's fictional works. The initial concept was to allow users to get answers to everyday questions using natural language and traditional keyword searching. In 2006, the brand decided to drop the "Jeeves" name and rebrand the search engine simply as "Ask." However, this didn't last long before it was discontinued. In 2010, scrapped its search function, unable to compete with more popular search engines like Google. Ultimately, it seems Jeeves couldn't keep pace with the competition. A summary by EN Gadget reads: "Ask Jeeves was a character-driven search engine, if ever there was one. Founded in 1996, Ask Jeeves featured a well-dressed valet who supposedly fetched search results and was able to understand questions posed in everyday phrasing. "Natural language processing is still tricky for developers today - just ask Siri anything - so this was a daunting pre-Y2K goal. Ask Jeeves lasted until roughly 2005, when it was rebranded as "The company attempted to invade Yahoo Answers' territory by focusing on a real-person QandA site, but ended its foray into search engineering in 2010. is ranked No. 128 in the world, according to Alexa."
