this post was submitted on 25 Jul 2023
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Wanted to ask you about this article, how do you remember the early days of the internet (I was sadly too young at that time). Do you wish it back? And do you think it can ever be like that again? I would be very interested

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[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

@Provider It's the "Just call!' of the internet. Somehow, people think that having an extended interaction is peoples' preference.

I would kill for a transcript.

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

@Provider

USENET

Specifically, alt.hacks, which concerned ways to simplify computing (as it was called) tasks - or everyday life tasks, too.

Especially the ob-hack.

There was a rule that to stay on topic, every post had to have a hack of some sort. An obligatory hack, or "ob-hack". So a fun sort of footnote to postings quickly evolved, as follows:

"...and that's how a bill becomes a law, and why so much of the Internet has already been privatized.

ob-hack: connect the turbo case button to the enable/disable pins on an option card to reclaim the IRQ or interrupt."

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I miss the dial-up sound. I can't really put into words why. It was like looking at a progress bar I guess.

I also miss hosting, just because it was the few things I could organize without having to like...organize I guess. Like the group just needed someone who could figure out how to get it to work.

Like the other guy said, written FAQs. Used to go onto gameFAQs all the time. I still go there sometimes, though it's only really useful for old games now.

I dunno where everyone is getting all this ad-less crap from. This was before adblock and even before a lot of spyware/malware protection was implemented. Modern ads still aren't as aggravating as getting Windows System Alert ads. And that stuff could be put onto your PC so easily....

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I always liked the dial-up sound. I don't know why it's so often reviled. Yes, it sounds like multiple minutes of demonic screeching being played backwards, but it was my demonic screeching. It was the sound that meant you were about to have fun.

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

@Provider I miss the freedom of the old Internet. It truly was INTERnet as everything was connected to everything. Geoblocks, censorship, blacklists, etc were almost non-existent. It felt like an open global world where everyone was welcome and everyone was free to decide who they wanted to talk to.

I kept thinking "wow, this is what the future is like" and naively expected the offline world to eventually follow. I guess it was very naive.

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

"You the man now dog!"

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago

@Provider I miss how people have lost the art of self-curation. Those of us who remember took to the fediverse like a duck to water. People who don't have that skill hate it here.

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