There is a gulf of nuance between these two extremes you describe. The web has "evolved" from a medium for simple self-publishing into a medium of mass surveil

There is a gulf of nuance between these two extremes you describe. The web has "evolved" from a medium for simple self-publishing into a medium of mass surveillance and manipulation, big media, privacy-invading ads, uncalled-for browser monopoly, information oligopoly, and arbitrary crap code being sent to you in ridiculous quantities, not only draining your batteries and showing no respect for planet earth wrt energy efficiency, but also actively putting you in danger through fishing, xss and whatnot, and making your future ability to even read your legal, personal, study, business, or banking documents dependent on a needlessly over-complicated technology stack that no-one has the ability to influence in meaningful ways except Google, an ad company. What it has not evolved into is a medium for long-term preservation of digital information, information autonomy, for simple ecommerce transactions and payments for everyone (as a merchant), for letting content producers thrive with quality content, or one that fosters free speech and diversity. It has "evolved" by being captured to serve the interests of very few players, and fails the criteria of not having to appease computers or software programs that seem to be at war with one another.