Comments on: 1OTT

By: David McNay

David McNay — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 19:58:46 +0000

What Iain said.

I really should try and write some more stuff these days…

By: Iain Griffiths

Iain Griffiths — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 00:14:14 +0000

Well as a former contributor all I can say is congrats on 10 years and I wish I had more to say on telly over the past 8 years.

By: nick H

nick H — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 17:19:02 +0000

This the irony of the early years of websites such as this. Evidence of their existence is as rare as those of early television. Who said we wouldn’t make the same mistakes again after wiping most of the TV of the 1950s and 60s?

By: Mark

Mark — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 14:27:41 +0000

“there are a number of institutions that are archiving the internet, including the British Library and the National Library of Scotland”

And it’s a nightmare of a job, don’t you know.

For all that the Web is an amazing leap forward in the world of information, I think its fluid nature is going to be the bane of many a future historian’s life. Yes, there’s an amazing quantity of information, but it lacks permanance. If something you publish becomes an embarrassment then you can airbrush it from history. You can’t burn all of yesterday’s newspapers, but yesterday’s blog entry can cease to exist if you want it to.

By: Dominic Small

Dominic Small — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 12:45:16 +0000

So I get back from my Bank Holiday break and find there’s a party going on – skill! It’s great that OTT has been ploughing its quality furrow for a decade now (and in internet terms that’s bloody ages!) so hearty congratulations are due to all those who laid the groundwork. Long may the flag continue flying for TV-based penmanship; as the new boy in class I’ll certainly do my bit to keep the OTT candle burning!

By: Graham Kibble-White

Graham Kibble-White — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 09:25:44 +0000

As for the hopes of launching that new ‘epic’ feature yesterday, clearly that didn’t happen. Hopefully, start of next month!

By: Jack Kibble-White

Jack Kibble-White — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 12:23:15 +0000

Well 1 of those 3 is a great idea Steve.

To Jon’s point above, there are a number of institutions that are archiving the internet, including the British Library and the National Library of Scotland. There is also archive.org, whose main aim is precisely this.

By: Steve Williams

Steve Williams — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 12:06:46 +0000

What Graham doesn’t mention here was that in that first incarnation, each month also had a Radio Times mock-up front page, which I thought were really smashing. Are any of those still knocking around, I wonder?

Jack’s suggestion that OTT went weekly was probably made around the same time he suggested Creamguide should go daily. And also that it should join the Water Rats.

By: Dan Pearce

Dan Pearce — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 19:20:28 +0000

Jolly well done. I’ve always considered OTT to be the ‘Look and Learn’ to TVCream’s ‘Wizzer and Chips’. Different styles, but both welcome to drop on my metaphorical doormat. Is that too trite? I do hope so.
10 more years!

By: Jon Haw

Jon Haw — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 11:05:05 +0000

Thank you all for many hours of entertainment and here’s to another 10 years (at least)

A thought struck me while reading this article: You say that the earliest incarnation of OTT is now lost forever – is anyone out there archiving the Internet? For example, do the BBC’s first faltering steps onto the web still exist anywhere? Does the first ever Amazon front page or those early AOL pages still exist on someones hard drive? Web pages may seem disposable to us, but future generations may find pages captured at a point in time fascinating, in the same way that some of us weirdos find old TV presentation and ad breaks fascinating. I for one would love to see the old “Beeb” website again, and seeing the pic above of the old Version 2 OTT page actually made me feel a bit nostalgic!

30 years from now, will a “Missing Presumed Wiped” type organisation be appealing for people to search their old hard drives for cached web pages from the 90s? Just a thought.