Opera marks its browser’s 30th anniversary with an engaging interactive website called Web Rewind. This experience guides users from the dial-up era to modern AI-assisted browsing, highlighting key milestones that defined the web over three decades.
A Time Machine for Internet Highlights
Opera describes Web Rewind as “a time machine for the internet’s finest and weirdest moments.” The site revives Flash-era aesthetics with vibrant animations and keyboard-driven interactions. Users hold or tap the space bar to explore 31 artifacts, including dial-up modem handshake tones, AOL’s iconic “you’ve got mail” alerts, chain emails, the launch of Google, peer-to-peer file sharing, MySpace, and more.
While accessible on mobile, the full experience shines best on a computer, immersing visitors in interactive nostalgia.
Contest Offers Trip to Web’s Birthplace
Opera runs a contest inviting users to share their favorite web memory from the past 30 years. Winners could win a trip to Switzerland to visit CERN, which Opera calls “the birthplace of the web.”
Web Rewind itself serves as a nostalgic experiment, recreating a bygone web style rarely seen today. Regardless of how much of the web’s history one has experienced, the site delivers fun and reflection.
