We now take connectivity and social media for granted. The gossip on Whatsapp, the outrage on Twitter, the vacation pics on Facebook all keep our phone's notification tab busy. It's hard not to imagine what the digital media and internet landscape looked like a decade ago.
So we used a Way Back Machine to go and peer at what the Indian internet looked like 10-15 years ago, through the home pages of ten popular Indian websites.
Here's a flashback:
Rediff.com
The website, founded in 1996, is one of the oldest news, information, entertainment and shopping web portal. Here's what the website looked like in 1998.
![reddif]()
This screenshot is from 1998. To put things in perspective, this was when Bollywood actor Govinda was making headlines and the rupee crossing the 42 mark was considered 'historic'. However, the political stories seem to have remained the same in the last 17 years--"Pressure mounts on Sonia" and "AIADMK readying for final push" could easily pass of as today's headlines.
Here's how it looks now.
Economic Times
![economic times]()
The screenshot from the year 2000. One look at it and you know you have time travelled back to when Sensex used to be at 4731. Today, despite falling nearly 600 points, the Sensex is at 27,240. That's 15 years for you.
Here's how the website looks like now.
Baazee.com
In the age when we didn't have Flipkart and Snapdeal, we had Baazee.com.
![baazee]()
This is a screenshot from 2002. In 2005, the site was acquired by the world's largest e-commerce player eBay.
PMO website
If you look at the PMO website now, you will be overwhelmed with slideshows, interactive tools, social media widgets and some brilliant multimedia. But, it wasn't always the same.
![pmo]()
The screenshot from 2002 that shows Atal Bihari Vajpayee as the Prime Minister and the most interesting spot on the whole site seems to be the cartoonists' gallery.
This is what the PMO website looks like now.
The Indian Parliament website
![parliament]()
It seems the the makers of the Indian Parliament website absolutely love that font. Much hasn't changed since 2002.
This is what the website looks like now.
Times of India
One of the largest news sites in the country looked like this in 2000.
![timesofindia]()
This is what the site looks like now.
Hindustan Times
![hindustan times]()
Back in the day, Hindustan Times looked like this and Veerappan made headlines.
This is what the news site looks like now.
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So we used a Way Back Machine to go and peer at what the Indian internet looked like 10-15 years ago, through the home pages of ten popular Indian websites.
Here's a flashback:
Rediff.com
The website, founded in 1996, is one of the oldest news, information, entertainment and shopping web portal. Here's what the website looked like in 1998.
This screenshot is from 1998. To put things in perspective, this was when Bollywood actor Govinda was making headlines and the rupee crossing the 42 mark was considered 'historic'. However, the political stories seem to have remained the same in the last 17 years--"Pressure mounts on Sonia" and "AIADMK readying for final push" could easily pass of as today's headlines.
Here's how it looks now.
Economic Times
The screenshot from the year 2000. One look at it and you know you have time travelled back to when Sensex used to be at 4731. Today, despite falling nearly 600 points, the Sensex is at 27,240. That's 15 years for you.
Here's how the website looks like now.
Baazee.com
In the age when we didn't have Flipkart and Snapdeal, we had Baazee.com.
This is a screenshot from 2002. In 2005, the site was acquired by the world's largest e-commerce player eBay.
PMO website
If you look at the PMO website now, you will be overwhelmed with slideshows, interactive tools, social media widgets and some brilliant multimedia. But, it wasn't always the same.
The screenshot from 2002 that shows Atal Bihari Vajpayee as the Prime Minister and the most interesting spot on the whole site seems to be the cartoonists' gallery.
This is what the PMO website looks like now.
The Indian Parliament website
It seems the the makers of the Indian Parliament website absolutely love that font. Much hasn't changed since 2002.
This is what the website looks like now.
Times of India
One of the largest news sites in the country looked like this in 2000.
This is what the site looks like now.
Hindustan Times
Back in the day, Hindustan Times looked like this and Veerappan made headlines.
This is what the news site looks like now.
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