Re:Truly unified inbox – BlackBerry got it right and nobody ...
by criddell on Thursday April 29, 2021 @03:34PM
(#26985584)
I say it's the modern version of Usenet because anybody can create a subreddit and as a result a group exists for just about everything you can think of. Compare the process of creating a new subreddit to the process for creating a non-alt newsgroup[1]. In some ways, Reddit is arguably more open than Usenet.
The defining characteristics of Usenet was not the license or client (IMHO the UX of most NNTP clients was pretty terrible for casual users) but the content. There was a group for everything that anybody could access as long as their ISP provided access. If you asked me if there was some place on the internet that had a discussion group for everything I'd probably say Reddit is the closest thing. All you need is a connection to the internet and a browser and you can start reading. Posting requires an account but they are free.
I agree with you that forums, BBS message boards and mailing lists are nothing like Usenet.
The defining characteristics of Usenet was not the license or client (IMHO the UX of most NNTP clients was pretty terrible for casual users) but the content. There was a group for everything that anybody could access as long as their ISP provided access. If you asked me if there was some place on the internet that had a discussion group for everything I'd probably say Reddit is the closest thing. All you need is a connection to the internet and a browser and you can start reading. Posting requires an account but they are free.
I agree with you that forums, BBS message boards and mailing lists are nothing like Usenet.
[1]: https://www.savetz.com/yic/YIC05FI_26.html