I asked my great grandfather about it, and he just kinda wept for a minute, stared off into space and said it belonged to his friend Jen Ex or something. He held my hand in his bony decrepit booger hooks, and I could see the years, the decades of joy, heartbreak, triumph, and pain flash across his eyes, and he was… more alive, really present, you know? than I’d seen him in years. Then he peed his pants.
Ah, webrings. Back when the WWW felt fresh and exciting, and all things seemed possible. Nary a bit of bigotry nor hate speech to be found in those days, precious few ads, just new horizons everywhere.
I kinda miss that.
Wasn’t it just so fun? I remember the vibe being different, and I think “fresh and exciting” captures it well.
The emphasis on discovery by things curated by people gave the web an unmistakable DIY feel. Like, it was janky at times, yeah, but that was all right because the tech was still evolving, we were still learning, and JFC we’re communicating with people from all over the planet!! How cool is that??
Maybe my glasses are too rose colored, but most of the time anyone I interacted with felt like an instant friend, or at least friendly.
Though I do remember being involved in my first flame war on a BBS as a teen. I think I was saying something ignorant about the Beastie Boys like “they are really entertainers not musicians”, which is ironic because they have been favorites of mine since not many years after that.
Yeah it as kinda cool maturing alongside personal computers (and the public internet). In some ways I feel like we grew up together. :-)
Hard for me to stay positive on this one. Yes I felt just like that - but I thought it would end racism and help us all understand each other like never before. Maybe it will and I just expected it to happen too quickly.