Just around the time that Java came about, developers touted it as the next-big thing for interactivity on the web. This was a time when Flash was still in its infancy, and people were doing some pretty interesting things using Java applets on the web. I do not know how many of you remember this, but back then there was a website called JavaPowered.com.
Now, JavaPowered broke every rule of usable web design — it worked only on IE, it was all black, there were bright colors and images all over, and some of them even flickered, flashed and animated. However, they had an impressive collection of Java Applets and JavaScript/DHTML scripts. In 1998, browsing from a 28.8 kbps dialup connection in India (I later on upgraded to a 33.6 connection - wow!), it seemed so surreal.
They had an impressive collection of “cool” looking applets, some interesting artwork (including some with themes inspired by H.R. Giger) and some fun tutorials. They say that imitation is the best form of flattery, and some of the earliest iterations of my website were modelled after their look and feel.
I’m not sure what happened, but sometime around 2004, JavaPowered was taken down — a quick whois look-up suggests that the domain is now owned by Sun Microsystems. I remember looking for it and being disappointed that it no longer existed.
Anyway, I was looking at some of my archived back-ups the other day, and found some of their applets that I’d in there. Looking at them today, they hardly seem impressive — but it still triggered in me a feeling of nostalgia, and I decided to hunt around the web for the location of the new JavaPowered website.
I didn’t have much luck for a while, until I saw that the folks that ran JavaPowered had a webdesign theme called, “Nearly Human Dezine.” So, on a hunch, I just searched for the terms — and viola! I stumbled upon NearlyHuman.com. They seem to have a recreation of JavaPowered in what’s now called Applet Orchard.
Sadly, some of their more interesting applets aren’t around anymore, and they seem to be focussing more on Flash, than on Java applets. And what’s left is not half as impressive as it seemed 8 years ago. The website looks like yet another ad-ridden, flashy one, no different from the million others out there.
But neverthless, it was interesting to find them back online. I suppose if I hadn’t found them at all, I’d somehow have imagined them to be something spectacular — which I suppose they were, back in the day.
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