kino.r52.ru was the site of "Svoye kino" ("Our Own Cinema"), a branded shop in Nizhny Novgorod that sold amateur video cameras, accessories for them, video surveillance systems, and home theater systems. The home page presented the shop as "the only specialized store in Nizhny Novgorod selling video cameras and accessories for them"[1]. The copyright notice on the page was dated 2000[1], and the site sat in the Nizhny Novgorod domain zone r52.ru; the surviving web-archive snapshots with content date from the period between March 2001 and August 2003[1][2].
What the shop sold
On its shelves, as the home page put it, were "more than 30 models of video cameras from various brands": the full line of SONY and PANASONIC — "from budget analog to super-compact and super-high-quality digital" — and, for more budget-minded buyers, JVC and SAMSUNG cameras, which the shop described as standing out from the rest for their lower price[1]. Always in stock were brand-name batteries "for almost any video camera," as well as lights, cables, chargers, and camera bags[1]. A model not on the shelf could be ordered, with a delivery time of two to four weeks[1].
The second line of business was video surveillance systems for apartments and offices, with installation: from an outdoor camera connected to a television, to miniature hidden cameras, monitors handling several cameras, storage units, long-play video recorders, and access-control systems[1]. The third, described on the page as "new," was the supply of televisions with a 29-inch or larger screen and "all-in-one" home theater sets: a universal DVD player with a digital sound decoder, a multi-channel amplifier, and a set of speakers. The intended buyer for such a set was described on the same page as someone who valued picture and sound quality but did not want to "clutter their apartment with bulky equipment and huge speakers"[1].
How the site was built
The home page addressed the visitor directly: it thanked them for the visit and promised to help them "find their way around the world of amateur video," and was signed "The 'Svoye kino' team"[1]. From it we also know the makeup of the other sections: descriptions of equipment with specifications, news of the Nizhny Novgorod and Russian equipment market, a map showing how to find the shop, and information on ways to pay for goods and services[1]. Neither an address nor a phone number appears in the surviving text of the home page, and no snapshots of the inner pages remain in our possession.
At the bottom of the page stood the developer's signature — "Web-design by Teamoty Brane Inc."[1]. In the 2001 and 2003 snapshots the text of the home page matches word for word; the only difference in the snapshot from August 5, 2003, is an added line at the bottom, "Хостинг R52.RU" ("Hosting by R52.RU"), pointing to hosting in the Nizhny Novgorod domain zone r52.ru[2].
Place in the Nizhny Novgorod internet
The site left no trace in the measurable part of the Nizhny Novgorod Internet: in the samples of the Counter.nn.ru rating that we have preserved, the address kino.r52.ru does not appear, and it is absent from every category in the final results table of the Nizhny Novgorod Internet Day vote held on December 16, 2004[4]. The site entered our record through a listing in the nn.ru city directory, where it is described in a single line — "Sale of video camera accessories" — with no rating or votes; for more on the selection method, see the Archival study of the Nizhny Novgorod internet from the counter.nn.ru rating.
How it closed
The snapshot from February 8, 2005, no longer found any content: the address served a hosting-provider service page instead — "The domain name www.kino.r52.ru points to this IP address, but no virtual host is configured," signed "Р52.РУ Administration"[3]. In other words, the name was still registered in the domain name system, but the site itself had already been taken off the hosting. No snapshots with content later than August 2003 have survived, and the last visit to this address recorded by the web archive dates to February 14, 2005; today kino.r52.ru does not open.
Sources
- web.archive.org — Home page, 2001 (archive)
- web.archive.org — Home page, 2003 (archive)
- web.archive.org — Home page, 2005 (archive)
- web.archive.org — Results of the Day of the Nizhny Novgorod Internet vote, 2004 (archive)