Was searching for a 3d model to print some months ago.

I spotted one after a while but the download available was only for an updated version, and needed the old version.

Managed to pull off the old download link from the archive and get the file. I was pretty stoked that it worked.

They have movies

A long time ago I was repairing my dad’s camera, I found an article describing the exact fault & a link to how to fix it, but the link was dead.

Used the wayback machine to find a text only copy of the fix (no pictures) which was enough.

Was immensely proud that someone had had the idea to invent the IA & have been recommending it ever since.

Wayback Machine, all the time. Very useful if a reference link on Wikipedia is dead (why do websites just remove articles like that? It drives me nuts). Unfortunately it doesn’t handle JavaScript very well, rendering some functions of websites unusable, or breaking images. I particularly remember browsing the website for Al Jazeera Children’s Channel (which is jcctv.net by the way), they had a theme switcher which unfortunately uses JS, so… I’m stuck with the blue underwater theme for some reason. And yes, Al Jazeera did do lots of non-news related stuff at one point.

The Internet Archive can be useful as well if you’re looking for a very niche thing that isn’t really available elsewhere. I usually use it for software, but at one point I tried searching it for an archive of Club Penguin’s game files. They also have lots of public domain stuff if you’re interested in that (friendly reminder: Steamboat Willie is part of it now).

i don’t know why but my particular browsing habits lead me to a lot of defunct websites so yea

I do - there are old sites that have gone off line that I search the Way Back Machine to look at. There are also lots of archived files available that I’ve used more than once (Amiga files for example, Usenet archives and even old magazines).

It’s not really a day-to-day tool for everyone, but when you need it it’s irreplaceable.

Mostly for public domain books, audiobooks, and movies

@jeena@piefed.jeena.net Yep, I stumble upon dead links all the time, and if it’s something that seems interesting I try to look it up thru internet archive

(And if it’s a website that existed for a long time, it usually shows up)

I use the Wayback machine sometimes.

Norm MacDonald’s old youtube podcast is on there, while it’s hard to find anywhere else (they took it down from youtube when he got his Netflix show).

I’ve found public domain pictures on there, and I’ve spent time browsing very old music.

I went down a rabbithole of comparing evolving definitions of words by reading through generations of dictionaries. That would be hard to do without the IA. As well as comparing versions of books that I was considering buying.

I use it all the time for books and audiobooks.

But I must say, that I read A LOT and don’t want to always read the new and popular stuff. Especially if you leave mainstream and the big markets (US, UK and Europe) you can find a lot of great books by authors from smaller countries that are not available otherwise. Often the translations are out of print and never been available as ebook and the scanned and digitised version by the Internet Archive is the only one I can find.

Ever tried to read the Chinese classic epos “Journey to the west” in full (not just the monkey King story)? It’s in the archive. Or have you heard of one of Surinames most important writers Cynthia McLeod or read the poetry collection of Guyanese writer Grace Nichols? Or a translation of Syrias most important Poet Adunis? The Internet Archive has it all. You just have to look for it.

It also has the free domain classics from several other projects all in one place. And not to forget old movies and television. I recently watched “9 to 5” the feminist classic with Dolly Parton, Jane Fonda and Lilly Tomlin there recently because no other streaming service had it.

Of course if you are only into blockbusters and bestsellers, the Internet Archive can’t help you there.

Lots of sites and companies that have gone out is business can still be found there when I need info they published in the past.

I use it quite often. I can still download some books from The Trove (RIP), it also has all sorts of abandonware and console rom collections. It also has a decent collection of gaming magazines and CDs that would come bundled with them. There’s also an incredible variety of books in there, and older programming books always catch my attention.

I’ve also watched the 1930 All Quiet on the Western Front film there. It’s the kind of thing that pirate sites and streaming services don’t bother with, because there’s no demand.

To remember the pre-enshitificstion days

Yep there are tons of great videos on there. Norm MacDonald’s podcast, Wonder Showzen, MTV Liquid Television et cetera

I feel like everytime I try to use the wayback machine, it just gives an error.