Geocities officially closed it’s doors today. Most people don’t seem to sad about it (quite the opposite), but I’ll miss Geocities. I played around with it back when I first started learning HTML (with my shiny new copy of HTML 4 for Dummies) and I’ll always have a soft spot for it and the sort of Internet it represents.

A time when HTML frames were cutting edge and page layouts demanded tables nested so deep you’d need a shovel to dig yourself out if you made the mistake of looking at the source. A time when “Under Construction” wasn’t a joke or a recognized facet of all websites, but was displayed with pride using the most garish animated GIF one could find. A time when Javascript was still an arcane art that most people didn’t understand and few web browsers handled well. A time when explaining exactly what web browser and resolution your site should be viewed at was polite, and IE wasn’t quite the joke it quickly became. A time when tacking something down took effort, not a three second search on Google or Wikipedia.

I will miss you Geocities. Goodbye.