2d ago

If you had a time machine that could set the internet back to what it was like in a certain era, when would that be?

Original question by @N0t_5ure@lemmy.world

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41 comments

I wouldn't. I'd leave things at now.
I think that the Internet has pretty much monotonically improved over time. Oh, sure, there are some things that I miss, but overall? Today wins solidly. Today:
Bandwidth is much higher.
Availability is much more widespread.
Security is a lot better in most respects. Used to be most traffic on the Internet wasn't encrypted.
Flash and ActiveX are gone on the Web.
IPv6 is widely available, alleviating address constraints.
Email spam is more or less solved, though it does make running your own mail server today a pain.
Open source is a lot more widespread and mainstream.
I'd say that the reliability of a lot of online services is better.
The widespread use of containerization and VMs has dramatically reduced the cost of having a small server in a datacenter.
GOG and Steam are pretty amazing ways to buy video games. The selection is inexpensive, readily available, and ludicrously vast.
Ditto for Amazon compared to brick-and-mortar plus mail order.
- How tf are you talking about the positives of the Internet while people are getting abused because of it? Bandwidth being higher allows them to spy on you more effectively. Availability hasn't changed enough for that to be relevant unless you're talking about spaceX. Which is owned by possibly one of the most evil people in american history.
- Security is a lot better in most respects. Used to be most traffic on the Internet wasn’t encrypted.
  This is so true, although I kind of wish I had more time to fully explore the prank potential. The shit I could have convinced people of with a spoofed Wikipedia article...
  
  Do you not see the irony there?
  
  Oh, I definitely see the irony, if you want to call it that. Pwning is far more fun when I control it and it's just for a laugh.

41 comments