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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: 2) by Hartree on Monday May 18 2015, @04:36PM
It depends on what you're looking for on the web. If it's free educational material at the college level, the web is much better now than 10 years ago.
Along with that goes the sad truth that the same ills it's had for decades are still with it. Many of those are human sourced. Trolls, bullshit lawsuits, attempts to wall things off for profit aren't inherent to the net. They were all there before. The net lowers the cost of entry for doing those to nearly nothing, so they proliferate.
I doubt it will turn into the complete dystopia some foresee, but Sturgeon's Law will always apply.
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Monday May 18 2015, @08:22PM
* Trolls - had kill lists
* Lawyers - couldn't figure many bits out. They just lacked any worthwhile imagination.
* Profiteers - didn't get it, nor did they have any workable business model
* Government - Considered it not important enough.
So the early internet was kind of free from many crap people.
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Monday May 18 2015, @08:36PM
Regarding Sturgeon's Law. It might be related to the IQ bell curve. Just an idea.