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A comment on A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace (1996). Parent comment

Re:A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace (1996) by toyg on Monday June 28, 2021 @11:01AM (#27662857)
And some people are simply overwhelmed. In many ways, it was easier to follow cultural development when it was more limited in scope and availability: "this month you'll read this book, listen to this album, watch this movie, and that's it." If you wanted more, you had to work for it, or even travel.

Now there are millions of choices to be made every single day, all at one's fingertips, and it's just so much. Should I read this or that? Which of the gazillion movies and series, on umpteen streaming services, do I want to watch? Etc etc. In comparison, tv-zapping was cognitively trivial: just cycle through channels until you get bored, no need to reason about your wishes and inclinations.

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Re:A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace (1996) by mango7283 on Monday June 28, 2021 @09:06PM (#27670436)
Reflecting on the past I think there was something of a benefit to the limitations imposed by scarcity - in childhood the limitations on what books, games, toys and tv I could find forced me to explore topics and genres I would ignore today, and in my young adulthood there was still something magical about traveling specifically to go hunting for <collectible>.
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Re:A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace (1996) by toyg on Tuesday June 29, 2021 @09:21AM (#27675411)
There were definitely some advanced dynamics that are now very hard to replicate. Some of the businesses that have been wiped out (the record store, the book store, the blockbuster joint...) often acted as cultural nexus in very distinctive ways that websites don't really replicate.
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Re:A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace (1996) by mango7283 on Thursday July 01, 2021 @12:26AM (#27696256)
Yeah - going to the bookstore or comic shop used to be something really special. Maybe I'll find something new, maybe I won't, but it's and adventure. I remember traveling across the city to that one comic shop that would have that one obscure comic I needed.

Today.. Well I don't even have to leave my desk. On one hand, I get what I want that much easier. It's still a sort of magic, but it's not the same.

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