💾 Archived View for captainrantcraft.cities.yesterweb.org › rants › deadweb.gmi captured on 2024-07-08 at 23:36:00. Gemini links have been rewritten to link to archived content
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I think many of us are here because the web doesn't cut it. Had a bit of a mental breakdown over that lately and ended up here. Great therapy! Not sure who needs ot read this but hey, hope somebody enjoys the litte "rantstory".
It's the late 1990s. I use the computer to go online. A big event. Time is valuable. The phone company charges by the minute. Our provider, a local company, establishes the connection to the world wide web. It's an exciting feeling. I feel like the member of some enlightened elite knowing how to access this new realm called cyberspace.
Connected! Let's head over to the Cyberbase. The chat should be on fire right now. Is 7of9 there? I like her. She's my friend. It's the usual crowd. I join the chat, feel that excitement to talk to these people from anywhere on the planet.
Oh, the email client downloaded a message. I didn't expect an email today. Let's see who it's from. 7of9!
I love email.
Yahoo finally loaded in another windows. My little Mac screen is crowded with several windows. Gotta be careful about the RAM usage. Just upgraded to 40 Megabytes but it's still not enough sometimes.
I browse the Yahoo index. Some links are dead but when they work they open a gateway to a new world every time. All these people sharing their knowledge. It's amazing. I admit that a lot of it is over my head. I'm just a kid after all. But it feels cool anyway.
And so as I dig deeper and enjoy our virtual gettogether in the chat hours pass and those calls for bed get louder and louder. Time to disconnect, go to bed and survive another day in cold, dead reality.
Sounds familiar? It was all fun and games back then. I loved it. It was my world, my home ... and more often then not my reality.
Today I don't love email anymore. I hate it. No ... I hate how most people use it. Ever heard of async communication? Give me some damn time ot think about what to tell you instead of plastering me with followups on why I didn't answer yet.
The web has become this all encompasing entity consuming everything. It's now expected that you carry a "smart" phone. Your personal tracker. The local government office denied a request for an appointment telling me that only people who can proove that they have difficulty to do something online would be granted an audience.
Heck I didn't even know there was a way to do it online. But thanks anyway.
No I don't have flipping whatsapp. What you mean why not? It's my choice not to use anything coming out of that company. Why don't YOU have Signal? Besides, I don't owe you any availability at all. Send an email if you must.
I wonder ... why do we need phone numbers for chat apps? They worked just great without it. And why are phone numbers still a thing? And why are people so obsesses over their phones anyway?!
It's all too much. I sit down, get some coding done. Browsing the web I end up at the same sites over and over and over again. Only sometimes there's a personal blog. Usually the best stuff anyway. But even those try to sell something more often then not.
I think back to those simpler times when 7of9 and I met up at the now long lost cyberbase and when an incoming email really meant somthing. Oh, speaking of emails, there's another batch of 'em.
To be continued ...