What’s a Wayback Machine?

This article was written for Western Sydney Publishing and published in July 2025. Before Gene Roddenberry became famous for Star Trek, he had three failed TV show pilots. A friend mentioned that they had recently watched one, so I decided to see where I could stream it. This led me to the Internet Archive, a non-profit digital library dedicated to preserving and providing free access to a vast collection of digital content, including websites, books, audio recordings, videos, software, and images. The Archive gained recognition as a catalogue of historical websites through its Wayback Machine. Let’s take a closer look at the major sections

1. Wayback Machine

Arguably the most famous feature of the Internet Archive, the Wayback Machine allows users to view older versions of websites dating back to the late 1990s. With over 800 billion web pages saved, it’s interesting to see how websites have evolved.

2. Texts

The Archive’s text collection includes millions of books, magazines, academic papers, and other written materials. From classic novels to technical manuals, the amount and diversity of the content are amazing; it’s quite easy to end up down a rabbit hole and discover you have lost hours of your day. Project Gutenberg and Open Library are integrated, offering access to public domain and out-of-print books.

3. Video

The video section features documentaries, vintage TV broadcasts, educational programs, and user-uploaded footage. This is where I found the TV show pilots mentioned earlier. If you’re interested, search for PAX Trilogy.

4. Audio

From radio shows to live music, the audio section includes podcasts, audiobooks, and even entire music albums. Notable collections include LibriVox, a free public domain audiobook project read by volunteers, and the Grateful Dead Archive, which features thousands of live concert recordings and 78 RPMs and cylinder recordings digitised for preservation.

5. Software

This section preserves old software, games, and operating systems—many of which are playable directly in your browser thanks to emulation technology. Prince of Persia is one of my favourites, which you can play via emulation straight from the site.

6. Images

While not as extensive as other sections, the image archive includes scans of artwork, photographs, and illustrations from books and public domain sources. You can find historical maps, diagrams, or vintage ads.

7. Open Library

It’s a catalogue of millions of books, many of which are available to borrow digitally for up to 14 days.