Early websites in the ‘90s and early 2000s were like the Wild West—basic HTML pages, hit counters, under construction GIFs, and maybe a MIDI file autoplaying in the background. But if you wanted anything interactive or flashy, you had to deal with plugins—Java applets, ActiveX controls, Shockwave, and of course, Macromedia Flash. None of it was consistent, and half the time you’d get a pop-up saying you needed to install or update something. Flash let sites do cool animations and games (think Homestar Runner or early Newgrounds), but it was a security nightmare. Java was clunky, ActiveX was Windows-only and full of holes, and Shockwave was just confusing. Keeping everything updated was a constant battle, and if one thing broke, the whole site could just stop working. But if you were online back then, you knew the drill—click, install, restart browser, hope for the best.