What you're describing is the "real" Internet, which peaked somewhere around 2007. Everything was pushed about as far as it could be in that direction. The pro

What you're describing is the "real" Internet, which peaked somewhere around 2007. Everything was pushed about as far as it could be in that direction. The problem was (almost) no one was making money off it. Online advertising, as it was originally done, was a joke. Most of the early internet was based on ideals of quality, community, and freedom. None of these make much money. So people started hunting for what DID make money, and they discovered data harvesting and targeted advertising. And like a cancer, that unholy pair devoured most of the web. Information really WAS power, like all those breathless articles and hacker manifestos in the 90s said. Power and MONEY. And the new masters of this realm have dedicated themselves to taking as much of YOUR information as possible. They need it, like Elizabeth Báthory would have needed the blood of virgins if she was an actual vampire and not just insane.