The amazing WayBackMachine

Some already know this fantastic, and different, search machine, and others don't. A small interesting team back in 1996 thought that it would be a great idea to take a snapshot of the entire Internet and save it in an archive. And no doubt about that, it IS really a great idea; this archive is now basically the entire history of the Internet, at least since 1996. Of cause there is websites that are not listed, but even my first non important homepage back in 1996 is there. What an amazing and almost impossible project they started, 10 years ago from now!

A quick search for google.com shows the first beta version of Google from 1998. And you can browse through all the different updates they have made through the years up until now.
I sometime use it for tracking potential competitors or partners progress on the Internet; you can learn a lot from it if you use it right.
And not to forget, it IS the WayBackMachine and what more fun could we possible have, than travelling way back in time by looking at old school websites every now and then! :-)

Go visit: the Internet Archive and the WayBackMachine

Or click directly here to see the old versions of these popular websites.

Google.com, dec 1998
Apple.com, dec, 1996
Microsoft.com, oct 1996

Apple entering Myspace.com

This is the future. You will see companies branding them self through these extremely popular online communities with millions of users everyday. It is amazing that they actually get thousands and thousands of fans, or friends as it is called at Myspace.com.

A Myspace friend writes: "Thank you so much for the ADD! We totally love Rockin' the PINK also! Stay Outrageous!"

Amazing, several hundred people thanking Apple for their new add, in just one day. Some are thanking them for finally joining Myspace.com. Many even consider Apple their friend. In Myspace.com you can only have a limited number of friends displayed on your own front page, so you have the opportunity to prioritize. In this case many users choose to prioritize the pink Ipod Nano just as high as their best real live friends.

It is still just a company who earns money by developing and selling products to consumers.

You will see many other companies move into these communities very soon. The question is then: Will the communities suffer from this? Will they be destroyed by different new advertising methods? No they won't. But the companies will have a hard time getting the users attention. I personally think that the companies that move in right now will get a lot of attention and become quite popular. But as soon as the hype is over, it will be just another channel. The user will be used to this new way of advertising, and the personal connection the user feels with the company will disappear. Until recently it was only people that owned these online profiles. As soon as a company takes advantage of this, we get the feeling that it is actually real people behind the profile, and we immediately feels closer connected with the company or product.

People have actually been doing exactly the same thing sins web based chat was introduced 10 years ago. And they still are. They are just branding them selves instead of a company profile or a product. I'm actually also doing the same right here. I'm branding myself as a person who has an expert opinion on some subjects. Or this is at least what I am trying to do, feel free to correct me on this one, if you like. :-)

It is all about seeing and taking advantage of new opportunities, before the masses do.

http://www.myspace.com/pinknano
http://www.myspace.com/bluenano
http://www.myspace.com/greennano