In the beginning we used Show Source and Console. As web pages grew in size it became difficult to navigate the source code, and you still had no direct way to

In the beginning we used Show Source and Console. As web pages grew in size it became difficult to navigate the source code, and you still had no direct way to view how CSS was being applied. The first web inspector that I used was Xyle Scope in 2004. It was an early tool based on Apple's new Safari engine. It was a few years before Firebug was released, and even then it took a while for Firebug to beat Xyle Scope in features. I still have the lingering feeling that Xyle Scope's UI was better at directly inspecting HTML and CSS than our current tools. Although that maybe the haze of nostalgia. I found it hard to find any really good screen shots but here is one: https://taoofmac.com/space/apps/xyle_scope https://taoofmac.com/space/apps/xyle_scope Of course, FireBug and its successors do so much more than just HTML/CSS inspection. I would often jump between Firebug and Xyle Scope. Eventually, Cultured Code the developers for Xyle Scope focused their talents on creating their Things task manager. https://culturedcode.com/things/ https://culturedcode.com/things/