There was a time when one could get GIF files to be smaller than JPEG files (typically by compressing the hell out of it and reducing the colour palette, plus they could be made transparent, which you can't do with JPEG, the transparency would hide the border on a black site) , and in 1998 when we all went on the internet over the phone line at a breakneck 56k speeds, the loading time of the site often took priority, even over prettiness.
I mean you can tell it's Darren Day and you can just tell its Murray Walker. Okay its blocky but that was how a lot of sites looked back in the day before broadband became available.
There was a time when one could get GIF files to be smaller than JPEG files (typically by compressing the hell out of it and reducing the colour palette, plus they could be made transparent, which you can't do with JPEG, the transparency would hide the border on a black site) , and in 1998 when we all went on the internet over the phone line at a breakneck 56k speeds, the loading time of the site often took priority, even over prettiness.
I mean you can tell it's Darren Day and you can just tell its Murray Walker. Okay its blocky but that was how a lot of sites looked back in the day before broadband became available.
Lack of transparency wouldn't be an issue, it's on a solid black background. I did think that file sizes for GIF and JPG files would be roughly the same. Good point about the extra compression though, which wouldn't be bothered with nowadays.
Veering off topic slightly - the TCC website lived on for years and years after Flextech closed it - presumably because they left it up for the benefit of Cable & Wireless (who carried on showing a looped tape version for a while after the main service closed) and then forgotten about.
Well, it wasn't just Cable & Wireless, that version was shown to the nordic countries for a while too, up until 2000. Though as you said, the website was still up for years after that.
Well, it wasn't just Cable & Wireless, that version was shown to the nordic countries for a while too, up until 2000. Though as you said, the website was still up for years after that.
It wasn't the same. TCC Nordic had localised presentation in Norwegian, and some differences in programming - although I believe the programmes themselves were in English.
The tapes C&W played out appear to be a rush job - but you're right in that it seemed to use presentation elements from the Nordic service.
The Big Breakfast website was floating around on channel4.com for many years after the show ended. Think it only finally disappeared when the site was reorganised.
The Big Breakfast website was floating around on channel4.com for many years after the show ended. Think it only finally disappeared when the site was reorganised.
There were quite a few old sites left up on the old /microsites domain. The header CSS was broken though I seem to recall.
The Big Breakfast website was floating around on channel4.com for many years after the show ended. Think it only finally disappeared when the site was reorganised.
There were quite a few old sites left up on the old /microsites domain. The header CSS was broken though I seem to recall.
Mind you the same thing has happened to a lot of the old BBC sites as well, but they at least admit on the sites in question they're not maintaining them (via the big mothballing banner).