4 ms·

50 years ago there was no internet, no mobile phones. 50 years ago there were vinyls and mag tapes and incandescent bulbs. WordPress 100 years plan sounds lik

50 years ago there was no internet, no mobile phones. 50 years ago there were vinyls and mag tapes and incandescent bulbs. WordPress 100 years plan sounds like FM radio 100 years plan. Nice to read. But can that be useful?

actionfromafar 3y ago
But digital is different. You can copy and emulate environments.
- Dalewyn 3y ago
  I think the thought to be considered is whether we will still use computers or the internet in a hundred years in such a way that this kind of decision today would make sense. We're already seeing a sharp decline in computer ownership, most people only have a phone these days.
  - actionfromafar 3y ago
    Any kind of monument to the future comes with risk it won't last or won't be visible.
bombcar 3y ago
There are people who are seriously discussing the FM hundred year plan, and were fifty years ago.
ghusto 3y ago
None of those have gone away, you know. FM radio is still very much alive, vinyl is going strong. Mag tapes and incandescent lightbulbs are now niche; large companies that used mag tapes, still do, and incandescent light bulbs have a loop hole permitting their use in "heavy industry", which still uses them) — but they're still used in those spaces. Point being that in 100 years, the webternets of today could indeed be comparable to the FM radio, but that doesn't mean there won't be people who want it. EDIT: Grammar
cj 3y ago
Imagine there were a "100 year magazine" where you submit 100 articles and each year a magazine is sent with your next article for 100 years. It's easy to imagine how a service like that could have started in the 60's and how it could have moved (or copied itself) online when the internet came along.
GhostVII 3y ago
I think the Internet is more like electricity vs vinyl. In the US at least, how we transmit electricity has been fairly consistent for around 100 years - a toaster from the 20s will still work today in the same outlets. I think the Internet, and html, will be the same - small changes over time but fundamentally the same.
- magnat 3y ago
  Both Gopher and BBSes still work today but that doesn't mean they are useful or even used at all.
- 015a 3y ago
  I think that’s true, but those “small changes” end up being large enough that they practically require a human in the loop for maintenance. In comparison; you’re right about the toaster, as there are practically no changes which need to be made to an otherwise working toaster from 1920 to get it functional in 2023. One small example: TLS. Years ago someone may have very reasonably asserted “my website doesn’t really matter, I don’t need encryption, it’ll run forever without SSL”. Then, the browser vendors universally made SSL practically required. Then; it became TLS, not SSL. Encryption algorithms change every few years. But; ok; maybe you can get some high mileage by automating integration with LetsEncrypt and praying they survive (and remain free). A three line HTML Hello World is quite likely, I’d argue, to survive and still render in 2120, discounting nuclear winter and such. But to keep a three line HTML hello world WEBSITE hosted and running until 2120 with minimal human intervention would require many magnitudes more executing code automating interface compatibility with the changing world around it; and every line of code you add and expect to execute is a liability.

actionfromafar 3y ago

But digital is different. You can copy and emulate environments.

Dalewyn 3y ago
I think the thought to be considered is whether we will still use computers or the internet in a hundred years in such a way that this kind of decision today would make sense. We're already seeing a sharp decline in computer ownership, most people only have a phone these days.
- actionfromafar 3y ago
  Any kind of monument to the future comes with risk it won't last or won't be visible.

bombcar 3y ago

There are people who are seriously discussing the FM hundred year plan, and were fifty years ago.

ghusto 3y ago

None of those have gone away, you know. FM radio is still very much alive, vinyl is going strong. Mag tapes and incandescent lightbulbs are now niche; large companies that used mag tapes, still do, and incandescent light bulbs have a loop hole permitting their use in "heavy industry", which still uses them) — but they're still used in those spaces. Point being that in 100 years, the webternets of today could indeed be comparable to the FM radio, but that doesn't mean there won't be people who want it. EDIT: Grammar

cj 3y ago

Imagine there were a "100 year magazine" where you submit 100 articles and each year a magazine is sent with your next article for 100 years. It's easy to imagine how a service like that could have started in the 60's and how it could have moved (or copied itself) online when the internet came along.

GhostVII 3y ago

I think the Internet is more like electricity vs vinyl. In the US at least, how we transmit electricity has been fairly consistent for around 100 years - a toaster from the 20s will still work today in the same outlets. I think the Internet, and html, will be the same - small changes over time but fundamentally the same.

magnat 3y ago
Both Gopher and BBSes still work today but that doesn't mean they are useful or even used at all.
015a 3y ago
I think that’s true, but those “small changes” end up being large enough that they practically require a human in the loop for maintenance. In comparison; you’re right about the toaster, as there are practically no changes which need to be made to an otherwise working toaster from 1920 to get it functional in 2023. One small example: TLS. Years ago someone may have very reasonably asserted “my website doesn’t really matter, I don’t need encryption, it’ll run forever without SSL”. Then, the browser vendors universally made SSL practically required. Then; it became TLS, not SSL. Encryption algorithms change every few years. But; ok; maybe you can get some high mileage by automating integration with LetsEncrypt and praying they survive (and remain free). A three line HTML Hello World is quite likely, I’d argue, to survive and still render in 2120, discounting nuclear winter and such. But to keep a three line HTML hello world WEBSITE hosted and running until 2120 with minimal human intervention would require many magnitudes more executing code automating interface compatibility with the changing world around it; and every line of code you add and expect to execute is a liability.