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I go back on the 'net to the days of Mosaic, and earlier on Usenet and BBSs. I'm feeling pretty nostalgic, but also saddened. Between the crooks, the government, and fun loving pranksters it seems that there is no corner of the 'net that can be considered truly secure. I now routinely assume that nothing I do is safe.
I remember when the 'net was 90% thoughtful discussion, it was about web pages, pure HTML, and the content that they served up.
Now it seems as if no forum is safe from endless idiotic, threatening, and increasingly offensive trolls and bullies. Many good smart people just refuse to participate. In its early days the whole idea behind the 'net was the free sharing of information. Now you find things behind paywalls, registration pages, or removed after threats from lawyers.
Each week seems to bring another attempt by government or business to regulate the 'net, both what you can put on-line, and what you can look at. Add to that the many geographic blocks and other restrictions that keep out some of the people, some of the time. We rely on multiple layers of flash and java and other technology, each requiring some special software to make it work on your computer. Inevitably stuff breaks.
It was only a decade or so back that the very idea of marketing on the 'net was considered ridiculous. Now we're buried alive with ads, pop-ups, and stupid YouTube ads in front of every video - unless you want to pay them to remove them.
Increasingly using the 'net feels like more of a chore than a pleasure, and I can't see it improving. Is the Internet broken beyond repair?
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 18 2015, @05:47PM
> people want to brick themselves up into a ghetto, let them. You can just ignore what they're selling.
That is only true as long as they never reach critical mass. Especially if they get to the point where they buy legislation to enforce their business model. You might argue that is not sustainable in the long run, but the damage done in the meantime isn't something to ignore - both to individuals who get caught up in it and systemic damage. For example the MAFIAA is working as hard as they can to protect their business model but the collateral damage to privacy and robustness of the internet is significant - you might remember the big fight about SOPA and ACTA, legislation. The MAFIAA lost that round, but they haven't given up, they are just getting more sneaky.