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I wholeheartedly agree here. In addition, IRC seemed more like a reflection of real life given the "synchronous design". Such as: > so even if you see a conver
by chrononaut 4y ago
I wholeheartedly agree here. In addition, IRC seemed more like a reflection of real life given the "synchronous design". Such as:
> so even if you see a conversation from a few hours ago, you can't participate in it.
Mirrored the limitations one would have in-person (i.e., they might have heard about the conversation, but now cannot participate in it, notably because it already occurred and all the same people may not be available -- you would have to start anew!)
Another interesting component of IRC is the explicit nature of people joining a channel -- it was treated the same way someone walked into a physical room; People would greet them and numerous conversations would naturally begin just by the essence of that presence. This is all mostly lost in modern clients.
- Karrot_Kream 4y agoI'm not sure why it's relevant to mirror life before always-on internet? It's not like I refuse to read books because my distant ancestors would sit around the fire and talk instead of reading. Though I understand (but do not share) your desire for truly real-time, ephemeral conversation and IRC is one of the last remaining experiences with that ephemerality.
- julianlam 4y agoFor the simple reason that humanity has evolved over thousands of years to consume and spread knowledge via the same tried-and-true methods. They're commonplace online because they work. When in 20 years, humans are literally beaming terabytes of data straight into their brains every hour, I'll still occasionally enjoy some "slow", yet rich in nuance, communications.
- Karrot_Kream 4y agoHave they? I mean humans spent most of their anthropological existence doing none of the sort. Moreover norms over how people conversed, when they conversed, and how openly they conversed widely varied based on culture, social standing, and gender. In many societies women weren't allowed to talk to many other people. It's fine to prefer the ephemeral communication of IRC I'm just not sure if appealing to history is a good justification.