Death of the Wayback Machine - a fond farewell

Web archaeology will be a major profession some decades down the road. This is what I predict their synopsis of the WayBack Machine will be:

"...The WayBack Machine is the foremost resource for early web research by web archaeologists. This rich database stretches from 1996 until 2008, at which time the organization reverted to the pre-web concept of categorization.
This was a mindset failure which left the years from 2008-XXXX a corrupted record. We now understand that the whole concept of raw data classification is counter-productive for two fatal reasons:

1. The scope of the Human experience is so vast that it defies classification.

2. The individual volunteers invited to administer the categorization of the database were creatures of their own time, complete with their own unique preferences and biases.

Perhaps the change was influenced by the Wikipedia method of knowledge storage which they mistakenly thought applied to their own dicipline.
In their defense, the progenitors of the change were dealing with an inordinate quantity of data which grew at an exponential rate each year, and the demise of the WayBack Machine may have been thought up as an act of necessity.
Be that as it may, the decision to revert back to a pre-web method of knowledge storage, rendered their data from that point on a severely damaged and unreliable resource, except in the field of web psychology, who have inadvertently been offered a vast resource and have gained remarkable insights into the psyche of those administering the database..."

A few months go, I was accused of plagiarism. With a few deft keystrokes, I was able to PROVE that my work preceded my accusers by many years.
This was all done with the help of the WayBack Machine. Alas, no longer can we rely on such a a simple, yet ingenious method of data discovery - it is being done for us by our contemporary 'experts'.

If I had submitted my data in the present context, it would most likely have been dismissed by those administrating for lack of proper classification - and my accuser would stand unchallenged.

-So goodbye WayBack Machine, and thank you so much for being there. I - and I suspect future generations of web researchers - will miss you.

What a great database...it was?

Please understand, I'm just a casual user and I only have the vaguest knowledge of recent evolution of the Wayback Machine.

But I have this to say. I'm disappointed.
Perhaps it is due to the sheer burden of archiving such voluminous material that the method for collecting data has been forced to change, I don't know. It would appear that, like empirical scientists you now break down everything into distinctive topic matters, just like Yahoo. (Is that why I use Google now?)
Please follow my string - I'll get back on topic shortly - I loved it when these carpetbaggers came into my local community in Highland Park (one of the poorest neighborhoods in Michigan) in an attempt to literally steal the city's water utility (designed by Henry Ford in 1915)
These business thieves had hidden their tracks well, removing their previous 'business venture' websites in an attempt at a clean slate. Fortunately, with a quick check on the Wayback machine I was able to find their past dealings and bring it to the attention of the Highland Park Council before it was too late.
It would not be an exaggeration when I say that were it not for the Wayback Machine, Highland Park would have found itself in a heap of trouble.

I also liked the fact that it was general: On the Wayback Machine you could just submit your site and that was it. It was perfect for someone such as myself to whom the term 'generalist' could be applied. Some folks have even jokingly called me a renaissance man because of my wide scope of interest upon which in which I like to create or comment.

So where do I fit in this new defined scheme of things?

I've made my living as a full time fine artist, but my medium is unique and does not fit your categories. My interest in the sciences - thirty years worth - is for the most part completely heretical, yet my ideas are followed by some of the World's most knowledgeable plasma physicists. My website contains my animations, lyrics, music, movies, community sites. My webserver is a veritable feast of disparate delights, a confusion of disciplines that is subtly connected. My website IS my art.

Is there room for me in this New Order?

Couldn't but help notice that the Wayback Machine discontinued tracking me after 2008. Perhaps one of you 'experts' saw me for what I was - a messy unclassifiable conglomeration that does not fit the new matrix - DELETE!