Internet Time Machine，通常被称为Wayback Machine，是 Internet 上最重要的资源之一。没有它，数年和数 PB 的宝贵信息将从网络上消失得无影无踪。
Internet Time Machine由Brewster Kahle 和 Bruce Gilliat(Brewster Kahle and Bruce Gilliat)于 1996年5 月 12(May 12)日在加利福尼亚(California)州旧金山(San Francisco)创立。Kahle 和 Gilliat(Kahle and Gilliat)还创立了Alexa Internet，现在归亚马逊(Amazon)所有，如今它是一家网络流量分析公司(web traffic analysis company)。
Internet Time Machine可在archive.org找到，这是一个非营利性网站，致力于创建 Internet 上所有可公开访问页面的数字档案。它目前为超过 3960 亿个网页编制索引，使其成为最受欢迎的归档服务(archiving service)。
在本文中，让我们讨论如何使用Internet Time Machine以及它有用的三种不同方式。
如何使用互联网时间机器(How To Use The Internet Time Machine)
使用Internet Time Machine非常简单，其功能类似于搜索引擎(search engine)。
- 要开始查看 Internet Time Machine 的存档页面，请在您的网络浏览器(web browser)中导航至 archive.org 。
- 在此页面的顶部，您应该会在Wayback Machine 徽标(Wayback Machine logo)右侧看到一个搜索字段(search field)。在此字段中，您可以输入直接URL 或(URL or search)通过键入关键字搜索相关域列表。
- 按关键字搜索将按域名(domain name)显示结果列表，以及每个的捕获数或快照数。
- 然后，您可以单击结果直接转到其捕获的页面列表。如果您按URL搜索，您将立即进入其捕获列表（如果存在）。
- 在此页面上，您将看到一个显示所有选定 URL 捕获的可视时间线。
- 单击此时间轴中的任何年份将带您进入带有气泡图日历(chart calendar)的页面，以帮助可视化该页面的所有已保存数据。
- 对于捕获更多的日子，气泡会更大。绿色气泡表示日期的捕获主要是 301 重定向，而蓝色气泡表示标准捕获。您偶尔会看到橙色气泡，这表明在尝试捕获(capture attempt)期间无法访问该页面。
无需更新页面即可让Internet Time Machine重新捕获它们，因此请记住这一点。
使用互联网时间机器的创造性方法(Creative Ways To Use The Internet Time Machine)
现在您知道如何使用Internet Time Machine了，您可以用它来做什么？有很多用途，既有实用又有创意，所以让我们回顾一下。
重温在线记忆(Relive Online Memories)
回顾二十年前一些价值数十亿美元的网络公司的样子，简直是超现实的。一些很好的例子是Yahoo! in October 1997和2003 年 10 月亚马逊(Amazon in October 2003)。
如果您是 1990 年代末和 2000 年代初浏览互联网的人，您可能会花几个小时重温那些日子的互联网，并摆脱那种甜蜜的怀旧情绪。
如果您记得童年或早期互联网上的任何流行网站，请检查您是否可以使用Internet Time Machine找到它们。它甚至可能最终成为将您与一些失散多年的互联网朋友重新联系起来的火花！
追究人们的责任(Hold People Accountable)
从有趣到严肃，Internet Time Machine是您想要让某人或公司(person or company)信守诺言时可以使用的最佳资源之一。
您可能听说过某种形式的格言“(adage “)当您在网上发布某些(something online)内容时，它会永远存在。” Internet Time Machine努力确保这一点属实。无论您是想证明某个网页(web page)泄露了您的个人信息、有人在Twitter 上(Twitter)发布了诽谤性(something defaming)内容，还是任何此类性质的事情，archive.org 都能为您提供支持——只要存在快照即可。
2018(September 2018)年9 月，美国上诉法院法官裁定Internet Time Machine 是可接受的法律证据形式(Internet Time Machine is an acceptable form of legal evidence)。如果记者报道虚假内容或有人通过网页自证其罪，互联网时间机器不会(Internet Time Machine doesn)忘记。
分析商业竞争(Analyze Business Competition)
根据您的情况，互联网能够快速轻松地从在线业务(online business)竞争对手“学习”的方式可能是一件非常好的事情，也可能是非常糟糕的事情。如果您是一名新的企业主(business owner)，试图踏入第一步，那么学习和关注其他成功的网站是一条安全的成长之路。
如果您对一个以您想模仿的方式逐渐流行的网站有所了解，那么Internet Time Machine是您了解它多年来如何发展的一站式解决方案。这可以帮助您更好地衡量应该如何塑造自己网站的内容、SEO等。
在线技术提示(Online Tech Tips)就是一个很好的例子。早在 2007 年，它看起来就大不相同了，而且不那么受欢迎了。该网站经历了一些相当大的变化，尽管没有什么突破性(nothing groundbreaking)的，但请……不要抄袭我们！
Internet Time Machine不仅仅是查看流行网站过去的样子的一种方式，但是，如果您喜欢这种方式，它可以完美运行 。
这里的三个示例只是冰山一角，该服务还有许多其他有用的方式，例如通过付费墙。它完全免费且始终可用，因此请务必将Internet Time Machine添加到您的网络工具库中。
What Is The Internet Time Machine & 3 Creative Uses For It
The Internet Time Machine, often referred to as the Wayback Machine, is one of the internet’s most important resources. Without it, years and petabytes worth of invaluable information would be wiped from the web without a trace.
The Internet Time Machine was founded on May 12, 1996, in San Francisco, California by Brewster Kahle and Bruce Gilliat. Kahle and Gilliat also founded Alexa Internet, now owned by Amazon, which operates today as a web traffic analysis company.
The Internet Time Machine is found at archive.org, a non-profit website dedicated to creating a digital archive of all publicly accessible pages on the internet. It currently indexes more than 396 billion web pages, making it the most popular archiving service.
In this article, let’s talk about how you can use the Internet Time Machine and three different ways that it’s useful.
How To Use The Internet Time Machine
Using the Internet Time Machine is very simple, and it functions similarly to a search engine.
- To begin checking out the Internet Time Machine’s archived pages, navigate to archive.org in your web browser.
- At the top of this page, you should see a search field to the right of the Wayback Machine logo. In this field, you can input either a direct URL or search through a list of relevant domains by typing in a keyword.
- Searching by keyword will show a list of results by domain name, as well as the number of captures, or snapshots, for each.
- You can then click on a result to go directly to its list of captured pages. If you search by URL, you’ll be taken immediately to its list of captures (if any exist).
- On this page, you’ll see a visual timeline that shows all of the selected URL’s captures.
- Clicking on any of the years in this timeline will bring you to a page with a bubble chart calendar to help visualize all of the page’s saved data for that year.
- For days with more captures, the bubble will be larger. Green bubbles indicate that a date’s captures are mostly 301 redirects, while blue bubbles indicate standard captures. You’ll occasionally see orange bubbles, which indicate that the page was not able to be accessed during a capture attempt.
Pages do not have to be updated for the Internet Time Machine to recapture them, so keep that in mind.
Creative Ways To Use The Internet Time Machine
Now that you know how to use the Internet Time Machine, what can you use it for? There are many uses, both practical and creative, so let’s go over a few.
Relive Online Memories
It’s surreal to look back on what some of the web’s billion-dollar companies looked like around two decades ago. Some great examples are Yahoo! in October 1997 and Amazon in October 2003.
If you were someone who browsed the internet in the late 1990s and early 2000s, you can probably spend hours reliving the internet from those days and getting buzzed off of that sweet nostalgia.
If you remember any of the popular websites from your childhood or early days on the internet, check if you can find them using the Internet Time Machine. It may even end up being the spark that reconnects you with some long-lost internet pals!
Hold People Accountable
Shifting from fun to serious, the Internet Time Machine is one of the best resources you can use when you want to hold a person or company to their word.
You may have heard some form of the adage “when you post something online, it lives forever.” The Internet Time Machine strives to make sure this holds true. Whether you want to prove a web page leaking your personal information, someone on Twitter posting something defaming, or anything of this nature, archive.org has your back—so long as a snapshot exists.
In September 2018, US appeals court judges ruled that the Internet Time Machine is an acceptable form of legal evidence. If a journalist reports something false or someone incriminates themselves through a web page, the Internet Time Machine doesn’t forget.
Analyze Business Competition
Depending on your side of the situation, the internet’s way of enabling quick and easy “learning” from online business competitors can either be either a very good or very bad thing. If you’re a new business owner trying to get your foot in the door, studying and following other successful websites is a safe path to growth.
If you’re privy of a website that gradually gained popularity in a way that you’d like to emulate, the Internet Time Machine is your one-stop solution to seeing how it evolved over the years. This can help you better gauge how you should shape your own website’s content, SEO, and more.
Online Tech Tips is a great example. Back in 2007, it looked much different and was much less popular. The website has gone through some pretty significant changes, albeit nothing groundbreaking, but please… don’t copy us!
The Internet Time Machine is much more than just a way to check out how popular websites looked in the past—but, if that’s what you’re into, it works perfectly.
The three examples here are just the tip of the iceberg, and there are many other ways that this service is useful, such as getting past a paywall. It’s completely free and always available, so be sure to add the Internet Time Machine to your arsenal of web tools.
