What did GIS on the internet look like in 2001? Thanks to Google we can now search like it was 2001 (Does not work like “Search like it was 1999″, but I digress)! Google has recently put their 2001 search index online and have linked archived pages from the Internet Archive giving a glimpse of search vis a vis 2001. Out of curiosity, I plugged in GIS related searches just to see how much things have changed in the online GIS community and its related topics…

The Google 2001 index is a snapshot that was taken in January of 2001, and as mentioned previously has been linked to the Internet Archives to provide archived page snapshots of linked pages where available. I did not have a predetermined set of search goals, just plugged some things in just for fun to see what they brought up. Below are my oberservations (Some of these are obvious, but it is still interesting and fun):

  • Typing in GIS and Geographic Information Systems in the 2001 search returned almost entirely government and academic web sites. Compared to a current search which returns thousands of different sources including commercial applicaitons and blogs. There is a wider usage of GIS today.

  • ESRI.Com. Wow this site has changed! I flitted over to the archived page of the demo site and everything was ArcIMS based and the pictures showed the classic HTML browser template I remember from university (Good Times)! Also the main page was extremely simplistic and they primarily sold software and had less focus on services.

  • USGS 2001 definition of GIS is still the same, but it used to focus on how it worked and what it could be used for. USGS Now it is focused on data and standards.

  • GIS Blogs. In 2001 there were no GIS blogs, now there are numerous GIS blogs. I know this is relatively obvious, but I was just curious what would pop up.

  • Google Maps do not exist yet and wont exist till 2005.

  • Microsoft.com. Could not help this one, as a developer I was curious how things have changed and it is interesting to note that they did not have a seperation of development conted compared to everyday user content. Also, I did not remember MSN having a broadband service available!

  • The web seemed monotone and simple, I sometimes miss this simplicity.

    • If I had more time I would play with this more as I am fascinated how much our community (GIS online) has grown and developed. I still stick to a post of mine,“Where Is the GIS Community”, last year and the debate that followed about GIS community, but compared to 2001 alot has changed.

    Please share other searches and observations in the comments below as I am sure someone much more cleverer than myself will come up with interesting search conditions for 2001!