The Web is an ever-evolving, ever-changing being. Over years, months, weeks and days, the Web undergoes major changes in functionality, abilities, user interfaces, simplicity and usability.

It’s hard to grasp just how major these changes really are, because they tend to happen so gradually. Rarely does a web site or application release a completely new look, and often when they do, they get flack for it (New Facebook, anyone?). Instead, most companies roll changes out gradually, to the point where you may never even notice the change until it’s complete.

To help show you how different the Web really as become, I’ve found a couple of neat resources of how the Web has changed over time, that are equal parts illuminating and funny.

Websites back in 1998 (here)

Remember what Google looked like 10 years ago? Yeah, me neither. Most popular websites weren’t around 10 years ago, but all the ones that were look radically different than they did in 1998. Over at Skidzopedia, they created a screenshot list of sites in 1998, and today.

As you look at them, notice how much cleaner interfaces are today. They’re less text-heavy, more applicable to user interaction. Cleaner, lighter, more colorful and less cluttered seem to be the names of the game today.

21st Century Excuses (here)

Okay, so this one’s not as much about how the Web has evolved, but about how life has evolved around the Web. Remember when you were younger and “my dog ate my homework” was your excuse for not doing work? What’s your excuse now that your homework’s all done online? These are funny examples, but also very interesting.

My favorite?

It was lost in the mail.—“Did you check your spam filter?”

These are mostly just for fun, but they’re interesting looks into how the Web has changed, and how it’s changed the world. Everything about the Web has evolved, and continues to change, and the influence the Web has had over the world is pretty incredible. Definitely worth a look at the two of them, something to keep you busy on a Sunday.