That wasn’t even the start of the web era, let alone internet era.

For context, GeoCities went live in 1994.

That’s the rise of the web though. 1995 is when operating systems for PC and Mac start shipping with browsers preinstalled.

1994-95 is when operating systems for PC and Mac start shipping with a TCP/IP stack preinstalled.

Isn't 1995 when the <img> tag was introduced to HTML, and when commercial use of the internet (read: advertising) was first permitted?

I can't find any substantiation for the Gates quote "The internet is just a passing fad", which is often dated to 1995, but apparently never cited.

No. Commercial use was 89.

It’s not much of an internet without mass participation though

As someone who was online in 1987, I've found the internet significantly less enjoyable as it has become filled with "regular people", hoping to share the knowledge they don't have with people who didn't ask for it in the first place.

While I get what you're saying, there was also a time and place where you could wonder aloud how to do $technical_thing_x on $platform_y and get a knowledgable, competent response from a skilled professional who had done that thing. Now, we sift through thousands of pages of sloppy copy pasta, of unknown pedigree and unknown efficacy. Was that for the best?

The bulk of humanity have been endowed with sci-fi superpowers thanks to Wikipedia, Google, Google Maps, remote work, shopping from home, etc.

As for the nerds who lost their online paradise? They are now in insane demand, earning eye-watering salaries and company valuations, and rising to the top of the social ladder.

It’s not perfect, but it is bloody good.

True and we can still find our niche places to chat with peers like some forums and IRC servers. The communities are still there.

What bothers me a lot more though is that the mainstream internet has become a massive dystopian surveillance machine.

or go to HN, and ask.

don't ask, simply answer the question you have wrong.