The weirdos and ideas are still there, just drowned out by the masses. I'm not sure anything can replicate the feel of the early internet because it's inextric

The weirdos and ideas are still there, just drowned out by the masses. I'm not sure anything can replicate the feel of the early internet because it's inextricably linked to the entire cultural context in which it was born, not to mention the physical limitations that the entire world had been used to but were newly lifted by the internet. However in regards to the suburban shopping mall feel, I think the answer there is movements like IndieWeb, and the general spirit of open source which is stronger than ever. There's no rolling back the clock on the commercialization of the internet, and the indie stuff can't really match the aesthetics, but then again when enough people get bored punk kills disco.