Gregory's Server
The original WWW proposal is a Word for Macintosh 4.0 file from 1990. Recovering the text, diagrams, and formatting was not impossible but it was hard. A great example of the use of #emulation for historical research and digital preservation.
https://blog.jgc.org/2024/02/the-original-www-proposal-is-word-for.html
Edit: I'm glad this resonated with so many of you. Just to clarify— the author of the linked blog post is John Graham-Cumming (someone get him on fedi!) 💾
@kdriscoll I took the original proposal doc, downloaded with wget to retain datestamp, opened in MS Word 4.0 on a Mac emulator, printed to postscript using Laserwriter printer, then distilled to PDF/A. Made a MacBinary with Type/Creator added back to file. #digipres https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/19n5GdMt9sX4xEw5HEG4wTaWcbUYDh9KU?usp=sharing
@kdriscoll And what a disappointment it has turned out to be.
@kdriscoll
Am I the only one who finds it extremely disturbing that it's hard to recover a document that is merely 34 years old?