PBS: The Birth of a Medium - Animated GIFs
If you were a World Wide Web user during the Web 1.0 era, a retrospective look back to the creation
If you were a World Wide Web user during the Web 1.0 era, a retrospective look back to the creation of Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) images in 1987 reveals quite a storied history. One of the most popular image files of the last three decades, GIFs have developed into the 21st century taking on an incredibly broad sweeping use and realistic quality. GIFs have progressed into a phenomenon that has nearly pushed them beyond the boundaries of technology and into a form of art. Now 25 years old, a new PBS documentary highlights the GIF history, recent popularity on Tumblr, as well as the story of two teams who are evolving the current standards of GIFs into a whole new level.
