Image maps were the best. We could have a clickable map of the U.S. that was fast-loading, cross-browser compatible, and did not require a plugin. What's not to like?

Today the way to do that is with javascript libraries like D3.js, which handle both drawing the map and detecting/directing clicks. That was not an option 8 years ago; javascript was too slow.

They were very popular before that. I recall finding great use for them around 97. Easiest way to have complicated graphical navigation.

Imagemaps were fun ages ago - and animating imagemap menus with javascript was even more fun.

No one would bother with such things today when CSS has animation and whatnot.

I actually did, but only with <map>, never <input type=image>.