This is the future: A reconstruction of the UK business web space (1996-2001)

The Internet and the World Wide Web in particular have dramatically changed the way in which many companies operate. On the Web, even the smallest and most localised business has a potential global reach, and the development of online payment has redefined the selling market in most sectors. Boundaries and borders are being radically rediscussed. This article reconstructs the early approach of UK businesses to the World Wide Web between 1996 and 2001, a period in which the Web started to spread but it was not as engrained in everyday life as it would be in the following decade. While the fast and dispersed nature of the Web makes it almost impossible to accurately reconstruct the Web sphere in its historical dimension, this article proposes a methodology based on the usage of historical Web directories to access and map past Web spheres.