Oh, I'm definitely projecting. I'm not sure where the line is between romanticizing and glorifying, but no one should do either. A "fun and wild time" is purely a matter of perspective (and self-persuasion). It's an unwholesome post-mortem. Whether we can say the web legitimately sucks more now, or it just seems that way, someone deeply invested in building things who started around that time might describe the current eradication of free content and hopelessness associated with stifling of creative output as a type of midlife crisis. Or they might long for the simpler days. That too is only about perspective. Mine might be dark and his might be light but I wouldn't have responded to this at all if I hadn't been through the same wringer.
> They also do not seem to be over-glorifying that period. Suggesting that human nature was more noble than it is today, technology or business more pure, etc.
"It was the peak of human civilization," replied TIKI as rendered by Microsoft Comic Chat.
The original author does not seem to have a "midlife crisis". They seem to have a spot of nostalgia for their first two or three years of real career after college.
They also do not seem to be over-glorifying that period. Suggesting that human nature was more noble than it is today, technology or business more pure, etc. They're simply noting that it was "a fun and wild time", and that some interesting stories are worth preserving since the time period is no longer native for the majority of the industry.
I'm not sure if you're projecting something yourself here, or if you're simply having a bad day.