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What do you miss from the old internet?
(lemmy.world)
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this post was submitted on 24 Mar 2024
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Ask Lemmy
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A lot of it boils down to the users. Personally, I miss when the internet mostly consisted of us nerds.
Back in 1995 when I first got online, the web was very much a nerd domain. You needed a certain level of computer knowledge to get online, which really acted as a filter. It meant that most of us shared a certain level of understanding and the drive to use such a medium. We disagreed on Star Trek and Star Wars, but to the outside world, we were ALL nerds. Back then, the average person didn’t even think of going online.
These days, even the most tech illiterate can get online. In fact, they don’t even think about it; it’s that integrated in their daily life.
While growth also gave us nice things like large forums, web shopping, YouTube, etc… by and large I think we’d be better off if this was still a nerd domain.
I really miss those days.
Heads up: Lemmy will either get less popular or more popular over time. Neither is ideal.
And while it never feels like it when you say it, but these are [going to be] the good ol’ days.
Well that’s pretty much every platform’s lifecycle. Starts small, reaches a sweet spot and either implodes or sucks ass.
I was on Digg, I had a MySpace page, I was an early Twitter user, I had a Reddit account… who knows how long I’ll be on here. But for now, I’m happy to be one of the users on the upswing.
Yes! My ex and I used to build all kinds of computers back then. Of course they used to blow up rather quickly. It was a slog trying to figure out where I left off once I got up and running again. Shopping - I bought all kinds of stuff on the internet back then lol. Enough said.
The early days of web shopping sure were interesting. I was a very early adopter compared to most people.
The very first thing I ever bought online was a flashlight back in 1999. Which was such a novelty at the time that I actually visited the two guys who ran that shop from a literal broom closet in order to collect it. I was like their third customer ever. These days they have 75 employees and around 7 million euros of revenue.
Collecting a web order seems silly now, but at that time it basically avoided a two week wait. Back in 1998-2005, if you bought something online in the Netherlands, you usually had to transfer the money by bank. Which took a few days. After that, they would send the product, which again took a few days.
In 2005 we got a new online payment method that let you transfer the money immediately, much like paying at a register. That made it way more convenient for everyone and you saw massive increases in spending year over year.
Don't gatekeep the internet. That's what lobbying ISPs and telecom companies are for. /s
Update: Oh yeah, I forgot that Lemmy was filled to the brim with Linux nerds. The most-common nerd-gatekeepers, right before tabletop players. Explains the downvotes.
Personally, when I look at the average user on Facebook, Reddit, Twitter (at least the blue checks), etcetera, it makes me wish we actually did gate keep.
And here I thought Lemmy was smarter than Reddit.
I'm glad I could break that illusion for you.