The Internet before the Eternal September began is worth knowing about, even worth mourning. The difference was not one of tech vs. non-technical, or of utopian

The Internet before the Eternal September began is worth knowing about, even worth mourning. The difference was not one of tech vs. non-technical, or of utopian vs. practical, or whatever rhetorical characterization of things best helps this author's aims. The difference was that it felt like a community one could come to know, even if and when there were strong philosophical differences between people. The influx of people made this sense of being a part of a group of real people impossible. Scale affects things. This article misses what really happened, and tries to read what happened then through a specific, contemporary political lens — its conclusions are predictable from early on in the article, and roll out just as predicted. Those who whine about gatekeeping are generally seeking to become gatekeepers themselves; this article is not excepted from this rule. The real problem of the Eternal September is not the noobs; the problem is that the legitimate demands of non-technical people to be able to have online access has led to the removal/deep hiding of the communication tools more technical users were building and expected to be able to use (perhaps we could call it the iOSification of everything). Example One: Google's dumbing-down of search, making it partially useful for casual users, and anti-useful for those who want to be specific, targeted, and deep in their searches. A tiered-level internet (accessible to all, but not built for the LCD) would be far preferable to what we have right now, and would help to build actual communities.