Ahhh the good old days of the internet. You know how sometimes a smell or a sound reminds you of something from your past, be it good or bad. Well the digital equivalent of that (for me at least) is typified in a web page I just came across.

Screenshot of an old school 'you must have x browser at 1024x768' web splash page with the enter link below the fold

Looking at the Way Back Machine this site appears to be from late 2002, however a few things still really make this one stand out for me:

  • The usage of word “optimized” and the confusion of its meaning.
  • How the enter link is ‘engineered’ to appear below the fold at 800x600, because “it’s optimized for 1024x768, so we don’t want those pesky visitors with a resolution below 1024x768 to be able to get in.”
  • The wording of the link to enter the site - “Do you want to visit the site anyway? Click here!”. It really makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, like they really care about my custom.

Edit: I just noticed after posting this that when I close the site I get a new window that opens which simply has “Thank you for visiting xxxxxxx.com”, isn’t that nice (not annoying in the least).