But like, the internet used to be a place! Or at least it wa...
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But like, the internet used to be a place! Or at least it wa...
The early internet had been constructed around lines of affinity, and whatever good spaces remain on the internet are still the product of affinity and openness. But when the internet moved to an organizing principle of opposition, much of what had formerly been surprising and rewarding and curious became tedious, noxious, and grim.
Jia Tolentino • Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion
The internet was created in 1989 with the intention that it would be completely decentralized. This means it would be owned by the people who used it. It’s a good idea in theory, but in practice, it created a poor consumer experience. You had to be highly technical to use the internet. It was largely read-only. We can call this version of the inter... See more
Gaby Goldberg • WTF is web3? With Gaby Goldberg, Crypto Investor & Thought Leader
What if you and your friends had your own little internet, the size of a room? No outside influence, no outside information, no viral trends, no content-suggesting algorithms; just the machines and the people within the physical space. What would you do on your little internet?
An Internet the Size of a Room: Berlin Review
But while in many ways more limited, the early web also provided a far more level playing field to its early settlers. As there were no “cities” yet per se, the most valuable virtual real estate hadn’t yet accreted to a small cabal of gatekeepers.