5 ms·

Yep, each generation thinks they're special. But I think the early internet was different since it had literally just went from 0->1

adamomada 3y ago
IMHO the early internet was different in one important way - you used to have to know how to use a computer that was fairly complex to even get online vs mashing glass on a touchscreen device that is always connected that you have approximately 0% idea of how it works That is to say the idiots back then were almost smarter than the average user today
- iopq 3y ago
  I went online in 1999 and it was almost always online DSL, so the idiots were just as bad back then. Those that didn't have DSL had AOL which is one click to get online
  - fragmede 3y ago
    Yeah but even then they had to work to escape AOL's walled garden, which mostly served to keep them in, rather than the rest of us out.
  - ekianjo 3y ago
    1999 is not early internet by any measure...
    - iopq 3y ago
      1999 is closer to the invention of the internet than present day TCP/IP was standardized in 1982 and commercial ISPs didn't exist until 1989
- joshspankit 3y ago
  Since you made your statement with quite a lot of condescension it’s morally difficult to seem to agree with any part of it. But, separately, my own experience is that there is a particular quality to those places where people need to pass a barrier of entry to get in and those are still happening all over the place. I played against highly-skilled players on day 1 of the PS4 launch, had intelligent conversations on Clubhouse when it was invite-only, and regularly find people with clear minds inside certain pay-only doors. I think the early internet was just that effect on a scale that was more impactful to the public where now everything is so siloed and fragmented. Media conglomerates and tech oligopolies make it seem like people are “idiots now” but humans are humans and I don’t think that’s changed in the last few decades.
deleted 3y ago
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adamomada 3y ago

IMHO the early internet was different in one important way - you used to have to know how to use a computer that was fairly complex to even get online vs mashing glass on a touchscreen device that is always connected that you have approximately 0% idea of how it works That is to say the idiots back then were almost smarter than the average user today

iopq 3y ago
I went online in 1999 and it was almost always online DSL, so the idiots were just as bad back then. Those that didn't have DSL had AOL which is one click to get online
- fragmede 3y ago
  Yeah but even then they had to work to escape AOL's walled garden, which mostly served to keep them in, rather than the rest of us out.
- ekianjo 3y ago
  1999 is not early internet by any measure...
  - iopq 3y ago
    1999 is closer to the invention of the internet than present day TCP/IP was standardized in 1982 and commercial ISPs didn't exist until 1989
joshspankit 3y ago
Since you made your statement with quite a lot of condescension it’s morally difficult to seem to agree with any part of it. But, separately, my own experience is that there is a particular quality to those places where people need to pass a barrier of entry to get in and those are still happening all over the place. I played against highly-skilled players on day 1 of the PS4 launch, had intelligent conversations on Clubhouse when it was invite-only, and regularly find people with clear minds inside certain pay-only doors. I think the early internet was just that effect on a scale that was more impactful to the public where now everything is so siloed and fragmented. Media conglomerates and tech oligopolies make it seem like people are “idiots now” but humans are humans and I don’t think that’s changed in the last few decades.

deleted 3y ago

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