I miss the internet when it was a limited access resource.

The internet of the 90's and 00's had drama and trolls, but they were few and far between.

Most people had patience (dialup), technical competency, interest (no low effort), and engaged in things they earnestly cared about.

There was no engagement / rage algorithm to fuel fires.

The flame wars were funny even back then, they were exaggerated conflicts, I never thought people took them seriously. Nowadays, instagram, twitters, fb? The rage on these platforms is unbeliveable! Forum-based flamewars usually had multi-paragraph detailed rants on why such and such was incorrect and why "my" way was "so much better". The modern version is one sentence sound-bites _at most_!

The internet was better when it was smaller, but maybe that's the way it is with anything.

> The internet was better when it was smaller, but maybe that's the way it is with anything.

I'm glad more people have access to the Internet. I just wish I had access to that special place again. It's gone.

HN is a shadow of that lost world.

> HN is a shadow of that lost world.

Should we...have a flame war just for old times' sake? Kidding aside, I grew up on BBSes, so small online places is my comfort zone too.

If its any consolation, IMHO the internet has started its next seismic shift: final destruction of the world wide web's rotting corpse. There's no telling where we all end up next. Small communities could make a comeback if we really want them. Exciting times!

Dial up? That's what ruined the internet. http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/S/September-that-never-ended...

In theory it should be possible to say this as a shorthand to "we do not share the same values", but of course in practice these discussions get emotional really fast.

This recent one comes to mind, note how the author takes a lot of precautions around it, but still...

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39285804