Current Events > I miss the old internet

(+) Yeah! (+)

Yeah, popups could brick your machine, but there was much less SEO, much less corporate advertisement and all adverts were 100% bullshit, searches weren't 90% paid adverts, news articles didn't require a login/paywall, and there was just so much...... stuff.

Fuck web2.0/web3.0

yep

articles are just fucking insufferable now

basically before all the normies got online and using the internet was considered nerdy

Also, flash was godlike and fuck adobe.

Also, SaaS and subscription models are literal satan and have never benefitted the user.

*looks up a recipe*

*Literal 200 paragraph preface about the history of Mac and Cheese and how cooking it during their childhood helped them get through their brother beating their ass everyday while he was high*

Just get to the fucking recipe and ingredients. I don't care about your life story >_>

Member dial-up porn?

I member.

You could type random shit into google and get random shit. The life and times of a sockpuppet travelling the world, the ramblings of a schizo trying to unify all religions and conspiracy theories through the facade of Warner Brothers cartoon characters, a blog chronicling vintage porn and old sex stores, etc.

Actually, that last one I uncovered a bit after the rest. I wonder if it's still around. I remember being greatly entertained by the sex shop reviews.

I also miss written/picture guides instead of video guides. Like, if you were trying to fix your car, they'd write out and show pictures so you can actually reference stuff instead of needing to watch a video and pause 30 times.

Fuck, I'm a boomer.

warlock7735 posted...

I also miss written/picture guides

they haven't gone anywhere dude. just add "-youtube" to your searches

TwoDoorPC posted...

they haven't gone anywhere dude. just add "-youtube" to your searches

It's a little rougher because of the wide number of video hosting sites, but that is valid. Because google still prioritizes video (fuck you, zuckerberg) you have to do like -youtube -tiktok -facebook -vimeo....

10 Annoying Trends You Never Used To See Online. Number 7 will AMAZE you!

NeonOctopus posted...

*looks up a recipe*

*Literal 200 paragraph preface about the history of Mac and Cheese and how cooking it during their childhood helped them get through their brother beating their ass everyday while he was high*

Just get to the fucking recipe and ingredients. I don't care about your life story >_>

I connect with this, because my wife regularly complains about exactly that when she's trying to look up new recipes. She hates having to get through all the bullshit fluff before getting to the recipe.

Esrac posted...

I connect with this, because my wife regularly complains about exactly that when she's trying to look up new recipes. She hates having to get through all the bullshit fluff before getting to the recipe.

Download the allrecipes app on your phone or go to foodnetwork's site. They cut all the bullshit and just post the recipe

There was a good article out there that I read via Mozilla when they did one of their updates, about the history of moderation. It started off well-intentioned, but like anything that has power, kept expanding via mission creep and it was all downhill from there until they were removing the mildest things.

Another example is the SPLC back in the year 2000 which completely floored me, they had a totally different attitude. They kept track of the worst of the worst websites, which they numbered at 500, and when asked what to do about them they defended free speech. But later on, they found out they could fundraise off panic and amped up their messaging to cry wolf at everything, falling in line with anti-speech in recent years. Where they once defended free speech in the face of Nazism and said that cracking down on a mere 500 sites would be going too far, today they reflexively want thousands and thousands of pages of milder content removed for no other reason that it would give them a bigger number to tout at donation time, even if it unjustifiably swept away good people as collateral damage.

The wild west era of the internet was much better, more free and diverse.

We have adblockers now.
Old internet was a shitpile. I still remember when Cloudfront damn killed off Penny Arcade.

I either wasn't alive or didn't use computer back then xd

They had adult games on it so I can't say the name of the site,
But there was a site where you can get all these flash games for free. Games that people will sell to you know. On one hand it is a great that people a getting paid for their work, on the other hand come on.

So many people created stuff to share online just for fun, and now its all SMASH THAT LIKE BUTTON AND SUBSCRIBE! so they can get paid, so it feels much less genuine. Its all part of the show now.

Also 2005-2006 YouTube had soft core porn lol

1993-1999 internet was the best. It's all been shit since.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/4/7/3/AAZ1y-AADgex.jpg
https://youtu.be/QDS4B0mM-ew

Look and listen

littlebro07 posted...

So many people created stuff to share online just for fun, and now its all SMASH THAT LIKE BUTTON AND SUBSCRIBE! so they can get paid, so it feels much less genuine. Its all part of the show now.

Also 2005-2006 YouTube had soft core porn lol

You tube is just so much worse now in general. This wrestling youtube I got to. Had thumbnail. So and so retires. And you click on the video , hear all these other stories. Then when it gets to So and so. The story is him talking about he he will retire in a 10 years.

Questionmarktarius posted...

We have adblockers now.
Old internet was a shitpile.

This.

pfh1001 posted...

This.

Specically, the 2000 to maybe 2005 internet, when the first HOSTS adblocking emerged.
The 1999 advertising crash just made it all worse.

Vote for my site in these 3 places before entering

Basically the internet became shit once smartphones became available to boomers.

TheUmbersun posted...

articles are just fucking insufferable now

I just don't click on articles anymore. If it's a topic about an article, I just back out cause I know how frustrating it will be to actually get context.

Thankfully a lot of posters are smart enough to put the text in their OP

ScazarMeltex posted...

Basically the internet became shit once smartphones became available to boomers.

Technically speaking, boomers made the internet.
Gen-X had our moment, but we fucked it up in the 1999 crash.