The New York Times has launched a digital time capsule called a 'History of NYTimes.com'. The launching has been made marking the occasion of introducing its website 20 years ago on Jan 22, 1996.
The capsule has been developed using the technology of History Project, a digital artifact site, where the news house has a minor investment. The Times has partnered with America Online in 1994 to launch @times, a digest of the paper's culture stories. The interface used has been reported to very basic, reports Observer.
The next year, the paper has decided to go all in on digital. The beta version of nytimes.com has been launched in October 1995. The website has gone live to the world from January 22, 1996. Today the printed article, announcing launching of the site, reads like an antique.
The site has been continuing to take full advantage of the evolving capabilities offered by the internet, following the promise made by the publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. The Times has immediately started offering online- only content, centered on events like presidential elections and the death of celebrities like Princess Diana. However, the website has been witnessed to nearly collapse due to the volume of people looking for information about the terrorist attacks on 9/11. Though the website has been launched 20 years past, but it has represented most of the news and feature articles from the current day's printed newspapers, from the very beginning. Even the interactive features as well as crossword puzzle of the paper version have also been included, narrates The New York Times in its launching article, published just 20 years back. The 'History of NYTimes.com' represents a scrollable timeline with clickable boxes furnishing photos and stories, taking back to that moment in The Times. The capsule appears as the first fruit of The Time's recent investment to the History Project platform, according to a report published in VentureBeat. The capsule also offers video and audio contents including interviews with people related to the evolution of the website. Recently, The New York Times has passed the mark for one million digital only subscribers. Meanwhile, its technological ambitions have extended beyond merely pointing its print content to the internet. The publication has started working on a slate of virtual reality (VR) films recently. In this connection, it has distributed more than a million Google Cardboard VR viewers to readers in the U.S. in anticipation. The New York Times appears to be popular for airing live contents on important events centering the celebrities. It has already attained the fame to represent first the online only content and thus succeeded in availing full advantage offered by the internet. The Times has introduced a time capsule representing chronology of its evolution and further development under the banner 'History of New York Times.com'.
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