3 ms·

Did you use the web back in 1995? It was fun, but it also sucked compared to what we have now. Nothing is ever perfect, but I wouldn’t want to go back.

ryandrake 6mo ago
I’d go back in a heartbeat. Making the web a software SDK was the worst thing to happen to it.
- collabs 6mo ago
  You talk about 1995 but I wouldn't even go back to 1999. Dialup was so painful. It advertised 56 know but in practice I never even say 48...
  - yjftsjthsd-h 6mo ago
    That seems like a separate thing. You can send 199x-era HTML over a gigabit connection.
- arjie 6mo ago
  Gemini websites are pretty much the old web: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gemini_(protocol) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gemini_(protocol) Both in terms of comprehensiveness and in terms of functionality.
  - jl6 6mo ago
    Geminispace is a very chill place. It’s definitely not a replacement for the web, but if you can handle the compromises, it feels like both the past and the future.
- socalgal2 6mo ago
  So, apparently you don't use google maps (or any other mapping website)
  - krater23 6mo ago
    The data that google maps is caching in my browser is more than Google World needed disc space back then. So why not just use Google World for that?
    - socalgal2 6mo ago
      Put your money where your mouth is. Turn off JavaScript. If you ever turn it back on you lose.
  - phkahler 6mo ago
    That could be a web app.
  - chongli 6mo ago
    Doesn't need to be a website, can be a native app. Native map apps on phones are superior to web app maps anyway.
- skydhash 6mo ago
  I read epubs, and html pages derived from texinfo and mandoc. When I see websites that just break down when you disable JS (I do it with ublock), I always feel a pang of sadness. Unless you’re Figma, Google doc, or OpenStreetMap…, which rely heavily on local state, JS should only be required for small island of interaction.
- sicjsciwnciwj 6mo ago
  People seem to think it was better becausee the technology was simpler. Except the “problem” in question is entirely about popularity, once the internet became pretty much an essential service of the common household it also became the new target for profit-seeking enterprises. Nothing to do with the technology, everything to do with the people. When you say you want to “go back to the good old days” what you’re actually saying is “I want fewer people to have access to the internet”.
wmf 6mo ago
You're not wrong but we've never really tried the combination of modern CSS with no JS. It could produce elegant designs that load really fast... or ad-filled slop but declarative.
- chongli 6mo ago
  Ads don’t work nearly as well without JavaScript for adtech. They’re basically limited to static banners and text ads as well as sponsorships.
  - dylan604 6mo ago
    Sounds glorious
- dylan604 6mo ago
  Yes to the modern CSS. To go as far back as suggested would mean using frames again and table based layouts with 1x1 invisible gifs to use for spacing layouts. Never again!
bonesss 6mo ago
I published my first website in 1995 (and while it wasn’t even a little popular, eventually a spammy gay porn site popped up with the exact same joke name, leading to a pretty odd early “what if you search for your own site” experience). If you put 2026 media players (with modern bandwidth), on the manually curated small-editorial web of ‘95 it’d be amazing. We used to have desktop apps, these SPA JS monstrosities are the result of MS missing the web then MS missing mobile. Instead of a desktop monopoly where ActiveX could pop up (providing better app experiences in many cases than one would think), we have cross-platform electron monstrosities and fat react apps that suck, are slow, and omfgbbq do they break. And suck. And eat up resources. Copy and paste breaks, scrolling breaks, nav gets hijacked, dark mode overridden. Netflix, Spotify, MS have apps I see breaking on the regular on prime mainstream hardware. My modern gaming windows laptop, extra juicy GPU for all the LLM and local kubernetes admin, chokes on windows rendering. Windows isn’t just regressing, their entire stack is actively rotting, and all behind fancy web buttons. Old man yelling at cloud, but: geeeez boys, I want to go back.
themafia 6mo ago
> Did you use the web back in 1995? I'm still not over the loss of Gopher.
peterspath 6mo ago
I would also go back in a heartbeat
hnlmorg 6mo ago
I wrote web pages in 1995. There was actually plenty you could do, but it was all server side driven. And the ironic thing is you are chatting on a forum that could have easily been built in 1995.
robotswantdata 6mo ago
I’d go back. The BBS and dial up days look cosy Now it’s owned by corporates and everyone is using bloated JS frameworks.
- roygbiv2 6mo ago
  There are still BBS you can access via telnet (and actual dial up if you really want), after the fifth one asks you for your full name, street address and phone Humber it gets a little old.

ryandrake 6mo ago

I’d go back in a heartbeat. Making the web a software SDK was the worst thing to happen to it.

collabs 6mo ago
You talk about 1995 but I wouldn't even go back to 1999. Dialup was so painful. It advertised 56 know but in practice I never even say 48...
- yjftsjthsd-h 6mo ago
  That seems like a separate thing. You can send 199x-era HTML over a gigabit connection.
arjie 6mo ago
Gemini websites are pretty much the old web: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gemini_(protocol) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gemini_(protocol) Both in terms of comprehensiveness and in terms of functionality.
- jl6 6mo ago
  Geminispace is a very chill place. It’s definitely not a replacement for the web, but if you can handle the compromises, it feels like both the past and the future.
socalgal2 6mo ago
So, apparently you don't use google maps (or any other mapping website)
- krater23 6mo ago
  The data that google maps is caching in my browser is more than Google World needed disc space back then. So why not just use Google World for that?
  - socalgal2 6mo ago
    Put your money where your mouth is. Turn off JavaScript. If you ever turn it back on you lose.
- phkahler 6mo ago
  That could be a web app.
- chongli 6mo ago
  Doesn't need to be a website, can be a native app. Native map apps on phones are superior to web app maps anyway.
skydhash 6mo ago
I read epubs, and html pages derived from texinfo and mandoc. When I see websites that just break down when you disable JS (I do it with ublock), I always feel a pang of sadness. Unless you’re Figma, Google doc, or OpenStreetMap…, which rely heavily on local state, JS should only be required for small island of interaction.
sicjsciwnciwj 6mo ago
People seem to think it was better becausee the technology was simpler. Except the “problem” in question is entirely about popularity, once the internet became pretty much an essential service of the common household it also became the new target for profit-seeking enterprises. Nothing to do with the technology, everything to do with the people. When you say you want to “go back to the good old days” what you’re actually saying is “I want fewer people to have access to the internet”.

wmf 6mo ago

You're not wrong but we've never really tried the combination of modern CSS with no JS. It could produce elegant designs that load really fast... or ad-filled slop but declarative.

chongli 6mo ago
Ads don’t work nearly as well without JavaScript for adtech. They’re basically limited to static banners and text ads as well as sponsorships.
- dylan604 6mo ago
  Sounds glorious
dylan604 6mo ago
Yes to the modern CSS. To go as far back as suggested would mean using frames again and table based layouts with 1x1 invisible gifs to use for spacing layouts. Never again!

bonesss 6mo ago

I published my first website in 1995 (and while it wasn’t even a little popular, eventually a spammy gay porn site popped up with the exact same joke name, leading to a pretty odd early “what if you search for your own site” experience). If you put 2026 media players (with modern bandwidth), on the manually curated small-editorial web of ‘95 it’d be amazing. We used to have desktop apps, these SPA JS monstrosities are the result of MS missing the web then MS missing mobile. Instead of a desktop monopoly where ActiveX could pop up (providing better app experiences in many cases than one would think), we have cross-platform electron monstrosities and fat react apps that suck, are slow, and omfgbbq do they break. And suck. And eat up resources. Copy and paste breaks, scrolling breaks, nav gets hijacked, dark mode overridden. Netflix, Spotify, MS have apps I see breaking on the regular on prime mainstream hardware. My modern gaming windows laptop, extra juicy GPU for all the LLM and local kubernetes admin, chokes on windows rendering. Windows isn’t just regressing, their entire stack is actively rotting, and all behind fancy web buttons. Old man yelling at cloud, but: geeeez boys, I want to go back.

themafia 6mo ago

> Did you use the web back in 1995? I'm still not over the loss of Gopher.

peterspath 6mo ago

I would also go back in a heartbeat

hnlmorg 6mo ago

I wrote web pages in 1995. There was actually plenty you could do, but it was all server side driven. And the ironic thing is you are chatting on a forum that could have easily been built in 1995.

robotswantdata 6mo ago

I’d go back. The BBS and dial up days look cosy Now it’s owned by corporates and everyone is using bloated JS frameworks.

roygbiv2 6mo ago
There are still BBS you can access via telnet (and actual dial up if you really want), after the fifth one asks you for your full name, street address and phone Humber it gets a little old.