> Except it wasn't. The "early internet" was ARPANET
While the Web may be the face of the internet most people are familiar with, the “early web” is not the same thing as “the early internet” which, in turn, is not the same thing as “precursors to the internet”. It wasn't the internet, or even an internet, until non-ARPANET networks were connected (e.g., CSNET), and there wasn't a world wide web until HTML & HTTP & browsers were designed and deployed on the internet.
'Early Internet' as in public usage. Not its research roots.
> The 90s weren't an early age of the internet, it was the early age of internet security that allowed you to use your credit card through the internet and be sure it wouldn't be stolen
That must be an alternate internet in an alternate timeline. From mid 90s to mid 2000s the Internet was a pretty dangerous place for any non-technical folk to use their credit cards anywhere. You must be looking from a tech-savvy person's perspective just like how you took the 'early Internet' to be ARPANET.
> crypto makes terrible money
If your understanding of crypto is limited to that, its no wonder you have the perspective that you have. Just like how many people said that the community forums back in early 2000s were 'plebs' spamming the internet.
Going by that standard, decentralized blockchains have been around for about a decade... and should get two more to develop "an extensive track record" of practical applications.
I don't actually think this is a useful comparison — but it is hardly one that does a disservice to blockchain.
Except it wasn't. The "early internet" was ARPANET in like the 60s, and it was already being used by researches and US government agencies to coordinate and share information and cooperate. The internet was already decades old by the 90s, with an extensive track record of being useful. The 90s weren't an early age of the internet, it was the early age of internet security that allowed you to use your credit card through the internet and be sure it wouldn't be stolen.
Pretty much right away after that was possible, Sears had an integration to buy stuff from them over the internet. Shortly after that, Amazon was founded.
The early days of bitcoin was the 2010s, and several companies tried to integrate with it, including web stores and Steam, and they all eventually removed their integration because crypto makes terrible money, so nobody was using it.