From clip art to Comic Sans: These screenshots from 25 years ago show just how much the internet has changed

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clip art of a film reel and giant question mark

Web Design Museum

A report from Morgan Stanley analysts in 1996 predicted the prevalence of the internet.
It said a person of intermediate web literacy was anyone who simply knew their own email address.
From clip art to Comic Sans, screenshots show how different the internet looks 25 years later.
See more stories on Insider's business page.

Morgan Stanley tech analysts Mary Meeker and Chris DePuy knew the world was on the cusp of something big in 1996. They drafted a 323-page report expressing their high hopes for the internet, saying it could be "one of the hottest new markets to develop in years."

Looking back on the report now shows just how far the internet has come in 25 years.

For starters, the report shows how rare some now-common internet activities were in the past. Among 150 million estimated PC users around the globe, the authors estimated 23% had used email for work, 6% had used the web, and 5% had used an online service.

"We feel that e-mail, online/Web access may be ubiquitous for PC users within a decade," the authors wrote. "At a minimum, e-mail should become pervasive. So should Internet/Web access: E-mail is the 'killer application' of the Internet today, and browsing through information services the 'killer app' of tomorrow."

Another marker of the web's progress came from the authors' guide to the report for audiences of varying levels of internet literacy.

Meeker and DePuy defined a novice reader of the report as someone who had "never heard of Motley Fool, CNET, or Yahoo." An intermediate audience was just anyone who "knows [their] own email address."

Take a glimpse at the internet of yesteryear with these screenshots of websites from 25 years ago.

McDonald’s

an animated Ronald McDonald the clown and two animated McDonald's employees at the counter

Web Design Museum

Microsoft

the Microsoft website in 1996

Web Design Museum

AOL

a red sidebar on the left and paragraphs on the right of the AOL website in 1996

Web Design Museum

Blockbuster

the words video, music, books, news, and games on the Blockbuster website in 1996

Web Design Museum

Xerox

clip art of a film reel and giant question mark

Web Design Museum

Coca-Cola

various images on a yellow background on the Coca-Cola website in 1996

Web Design Museum

Amazon

a blue box in the corner of the Amazon website in 1996

Web Design Museum

Nokia

a picture of a landline phone and a table of contents on the Nokia website in 1996

Web Design Museum

Mercedes-Benz

animated cars and the Mercedes-Benz logo on a gray background

Web Design Museum

Sony

a digital table of contents on the Sony website in 1996

Web Design Museum

Almanac.com

farming tips on a yellow background on Almanac.com

Web Design Museum

Ebay

text about Ebay on the company's website in 1996

Web Design Museum

GAP

sweaters and ornaments on the GAP website in 1996

Web Design Museum

Comedy Central

the Comedy Central website in 1996

Web Design Museum

Intel

icons on the Intel website in 1996

Web Design Museum

Frito-Lay

colorful splotches on a white trapezoid that says Lay's at the center

Web Design Museum

American Express

icons on a sea foam green background on the Amex website in 1996

Web Design Museum

IBM

orange and purple blocks and the words "tis the season" on the IBM website in 1996

Web Design Museum

Yahoo

several rows of hyperlinks on the Yahoo website in 1996

Web Design Museum

MT V2

a blue background with pictures of people and M2 MTV logos

Web Design Museum

AltaVista

a red banner and search area on the AltaVista website in 1996

Web Design Museum

The Weather Channel

clouds and a digital table of contents on The Weather Channel's website in 1996

Web Design Museum

The White House

animated icons and descriptions on the White House website in 1996

Web Design Museum

Nintendo

several icons on a black background on the Nintendo website in 1996

Web Design Museum

Kodak

four panels of photos with the globe in the background

Web Design Museum

Pepsi

a green and black background with the words "Pepsi World" in the middle

Web Design Museum

MSN

paragraphs and a picture of grass and the sky on the MSN website in 1996

Web Design Museum

Netscape

several paragraphs on the Netscape website in 1996

Web Design Museum

Dell

color-coded text boxes and icons on the Dell website in 1996

Web Design Museum

Epic Games

a digital table of contents on the Epic Games website in 1996

Web Design Museum

MIT

hyperlinks on the MIT website in 1996

Web Design Museum

Disney

a blue wave and icons on The Disney Store's website in 1996

Web Design Museum

Microsoft Windows 95

an image of a pink birthday cake and several paragaphs on the Microsoft Windows 95 website

Web Design Museum

The X-Files

a black background with the words "The X-Files"

Web Design Museum

1996 Olympic Games

several icons and an image of people playing basketball on the 1996 Olympics website

Web Design Museum

HP

rows of hyperlinks and an image of trees amidst a sunrise on the HP website in 1996

Web Design Museum

Adobe

a calendar, yellow sidebars, and the words happy holidays on the Adobe website in 1996

Web Design Museum

FedEx

an animation of a box in motion on the FedEx website in 1996

Web Design Museum

UPS

a picture of a box, a baby, and the Olympics logo on the UPS website in 1996

Web Design Museum

Pizza Hut

the Pizza Hut logo and online order form from 1996

Web Design Museum

Toyota

an image of a car, several paragraphs, and the word Toyota on a yellow background

Web Design Museum

Adidas

a foot, a sock, and a red animated face

Web Design Museum

Hertz

several colorful stripes on the Hertz website in 1996

Web Design Museum

National Hockey League

pictures of hockey players on the NHL website in 1996

Web Design Museum

GeoCities

the GeoCities website in 1996

Web Design Museum

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