4 ms·

There were a few y2k technologies that I'd like to get back though. Email was nice, back when it consisted of nothing but emails from people you knew. And the

There were a few y2k technologies that I'd like to get back though. Email was nice, back when it consisted of nothing but emails from people you knew. And the occasional spam that could be knocked out by simple keyword filters. Usenet was nice. Even with that dial-up netzero account you had access to a HN-esque level of intelligent discourse on pretty much every subject imaginable. Now we only get that with tech. But back then you had essentially a HackerNews for rock climbing, one for chess, one for rocket science (with real rocket scientests there who would answer your questions), and ones for discussing whether an imperial star destroyer would win in a fight with the USS Enterprise. But then Spam happened and it killed both those things. The Usenet went away in the span of a single year, to be only fractionally replaced with a series of terrible PHPBB boards that nobody could find and you certainly weren't about to meet any real rocket scientests hanging out in. Not sure I'd trade my iPad to get all that back, but it was still pretty nice.

eli_gottlieb 14y ago
I think we eventually got Reddit in place of the crappy PHPBB boards.
- aerique 14y ago
  Reddit is a nice alternative to Usenet but not really a replacement since it is centralized as opposed to Usenet's distributed nature. As for e-mail, if you have a decent provider spam is a solved problem. It hasn't bothered me for years.
  - eli_gottlieb 14y ago
    Trust me, if it didn't cost extra as a part of ISP packages nowadays, I'd be on USENET.
abecedarius 14y ago
Spam was already a big problem, wasn't it? (Started around 1994.) Though I think I still checked in on Usenet occasionally.
andyking 14y ago
Isn't this just because there were fewer people online back then, and those who were online were more likely to be intelligent early-adopters with reasonable manners and a good job (to be able to afford a £1,000+ computer and expensive internet access)? It used to cost real money and take technical effort to get online and publish. Nowadays, for better or for worse, any child with a mobile phone can - and does - spout off online, on Twitter, on messageboards, etc. I like to discuss radio online, and I remember the good old days of alt.radio.uk and similar Usenet groups, full of interesting discussions with people actually involved in the industry. Nowadays, the web-based messageboard equivalents are filled with kids plugging their bedroom internet streams, and obsessive ranting about radio stations that is frankly bordering on the insane. One of the popular UK radio-related boards is pretty unusable these days, because any real discussion is drowned out in noisy ranting and one-liner posts. I just think it's an effect of everyone and his dog being able to send off comments without any thought needed.
kps 14y ago
Tue Sep 7147 09:58:54 EDT 1993
noonespecial 14y ago
Wow. I remember that usenet thread about the star destroyer vs the enterprise. I was totally on the star destroyer side. It was a battleship after all... All the enterprise did up to that point was save whales. Why do I feel the need to tell kids to get off my lawn?
epsylon 14y ago
Dec. 2, 1999. Quake 3 Arena is released. Stunning graphics, timeless gameplay. No multiplayer first person shooter has come close to the perfection of Q3A since then. (Unreal Tournament, released 3 days earlier, was still pretty damn awesome.) These days, Activision makes millions selling the same dumbed down Call of Duty every year to teenagers...

eli_gottlieb 14y ago

I think we eventually got Reddit in place of the crappy PHPBB boards.

aerique 14y ago
Reddit is a nice alternative to Usenet but not really a replacement since it is centralized as opposed to Usenet's distributed nature. As for e-mail, if you have a decent provider spam is a solved problem. It hasn't bothered me for years.
- eli_gottlieb 14y ago
  Trust me, if it didn't cost extra as a part of ISP packages nowadays, I'd be on USENET.

abecedarius 14y ago

Spam was already a big problem, wasn't it? (Started around 1994.) Though I think I still checked in on Usenet occasionally.

andyking 14y ago

Isn't this just because there were fewer people online back then, and those who were online were more likely to be intelligent early-adopters with reasonable manners and a good job (to be able to afford a £1,000+ computer and expensive internet access)? It used to cost real money and take technical effort to get online and publish. Nowadays, for better or for worse, any child with a mobile phone can - and does - spout off online, on Twitter, on messageboards, etc. I like to discuss radio online, and I remember the good old days of alt.radio.uk and similar Usenet groups, full of interesting discussions with people actually involved in the industry. Nowadays, the web-based messageboard equivalents are filled with kids plugging their bedroom internet streams, and obsessive ranting about radio stations that is frankly bordering on the insane. One of the popular UK radio-related boards is pretty unusable these days, because any real discussion is drowned out in noisy ranting and one-liner posts. I just think it's an effect of everyone and his dog being able to send off comments without any thought needed.

kps 14y ago

Tue Sep 7147 09:58:54 EDT 1993

noonespecial 14y ago

Wow. I remember that usenet thread about the star destroyer vs the enterprise. I was totally on the star destroyer side. It was a battleship after all... All the enterprise did up to that point was save whales. Why do I feel the need to tell kids to get off my lawn?

epsylon 14y ago

Dec. 2, 1999. Quake 3 Arena is released. Stunning graphics, timeless gameplay. No multiplayer first person shooter has come close to the perfection of Q3A since then. (Unreal Tournament, released 3 days earlier, was still pretty damn awesome.) These days, Activision makes millions selling the same dumbed down Call of Duty every year to teenagers...