Comment by skeeter2020 6 days ago
I'll say it; the biggest failure of the internet was sharing it with the unwashed masses, we should have saved it for the (even less washed, if you look to the founders) elites.
To paraphrase Matt Damon from a show only enjoyed by the true internet acolytes "the walking mozzarella sticks who think a three hundred android phone and a verizon contract give them the right to connect to every piece of information in the world..."
I disagree, at least as far as the entire internet is concerned. The internet should belong to, and be available to, everyone.
Individual sites on the internet can be as gatekept and elitist as they like, but keeping something as transformative and revolutionary as the internet locked away for a privileged technical elite goes against everything the hacker ethos is meant to stand for.
I can't comprehend how so many people can be so nostalgic for the past without understanding what the past was about. Yes, those walking mozzarella sticks have the right to connect to every piece of information in the world. Even if they're dumber and less cool than you. Everyone, everywhere, has the right to unrestricted information and communication, without qualifiers. That's the entire fucking point.
> the biggest failure of the internet was sharing it with the unwashed masses, we should have saved it for the (even less washed, if you look to the founders) elites.
Did you start to use the internet before or after september 1993?
> the biggest failure of the internet was sharing it with the unwashed masses, we should have saved it for the (even less washed, if you look to the founders) elites.
...While I agree with the sentiment, I don't agree with the end logic: The sentence implies a top-down administration determining who gets access to the internet, which is something that I will always hate with a passion.
Personally, I'm more in favor with a self-segregation model, where I can have a private intranet with myself & anyone else I choose to share with. I already do so with Tailscale's private domains.
The fundamental problem of the internet was that it was full of nerds - from a monetization perspective, they are a loathsome bunch.
They barely buy anything, preferring to make their own stuff, and they incessantly complain about the things they do buy.
They resist and effectively fight back against all attempts to control them.
They hate pandering, they don't click on ads (and in fact block them), they smell scams a million miles away.