It sounds like an opinion, and you can certainly make a case there. But I feel equally strong that networked technology today is amazing, and 1999 sucked. Being

It sounds like an opinion, and you can certainly make a case there. But I feel equally strong that networked technology today is amazing, and 1999 sucked. Being able to look up how to do anything, talk to people I know instantly. Cameras in your pocket, wikipedia, phones, collaborative documents, gps on maps, youtube, online shopping, they've been great equalizers in many ways. All the things you mentioned were serious problems before just in a different way. Advertising was horrible when I watched broadcast TV. I spent probably 2 hours each day looking at commercials. Propoganda was ubiquitous and there wasn't even a place you could point out it was happening. The gig economy jobs back then were just different jobs with fewer options, like pumping gas or minimum wage at McDonald's or greeting people at Walmart. And now online discussion allows people to be more open about mental health and the anonymity let's you talk about relationship or depression problems with others. It's not perfect, but it's a hell of a lot better than what life was like before. And one thing I agree with you on, is that it isn't because of the Media Lab or Berkman. It's because of a lot of people making slow incremental progress throughout the entire tech stack.