News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on Why Real Life is better than IRC (2000). Parent comment

Re:Why Real Life is better than IRC (2000) by huhkerrf on Tuesday January 13, 2026 @04:55PM (#46608800)
There has been a lot of bad things about the technology of the past 30 years, but I refuse to say that things were fantastic pre-Internet. The fact that I can listen to any music I want for less than it cost me to buy a CD in 1995, not even adjusted for inflation, is amazing. The massive CD book I carried around is definitely nostalgia.

Or, I can think of something, and find the answer quickly. I can make friends with people (or argue with them) across continents.

Still, there are things that I do miss that were objectively "worse." Like there only being a few dozen channels, and cable TV being less important, so you knew everyone was watching the same thing. There seemed to be more of a shared culture.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Why Real Life is better than IRC (2000) by pjc50 on Wednesday January 14, 2026 @09:17AM (#46616313)
> I can make friends with people (or argue with them) across continents

I really feel that internet socialization has gone from a means to make friends to a means to make enemies. Often to reinforce an ingroup, but that's not the same as friendship.

[ Parent | on HN ]