Originally Posted by Jason Torchinsky

The other day I was looking through a box of old Apple II diskettes when I found something I had forgotten all about: a 1986 disk from Buick that is, essentially, a website that predates the web. I loaded the 26 year old disk into my old Apple IIc, and, after a few tries, it booted. What I found was simply amazing.

I remember getting this disk in the mail when I was a kid; ostensibly, it must have been addressed to my dad, but, like most dads of the mid-80s, any floppy disks received in the mail went immediately to the kids. I'm guessing he was on a mailing list for these because we had been car shopping last in 1980, when he replaced his old '68 Beetle with an '80 Honda Accord. I was pushing for an AMC Pacer, but I don't think my opinion counted for much. Upon looking at this thing now, it'* amazing to see how far ahead of its time it was.

Essentially, the disk is an electronic catalog of Buick'* '86 lineup, complete with detailed technical descriptions (some animated and even a little interactive), comparisons with other makes, a way to print the car'* window sticker, a loan calculator, printable dealer invite.

It was, essentially, all the stuff you'd find on an automaker'* site today. And this was three years before Sir Tim Berners-Lee wrote his 1989 proposal for what would eventually become the World Wide Web.