11 Feb
2002
11 Feb
'02
3:11 a.m.
On Sun, 10 Feb 2002, Sellam Ismail wrote:
On Sat, 9 Feb 2002, Brian Chase wrote:
> For one, most of the people here remember what
the 'Net' was like before
> it was overrun with commercial traffic. Probably 95-99% of the people
> using the internet and Usenet now have no clue that it used to be at
> least somewhat more useful. Stupidity always existed for sure, but the
> S/N ratio was at least a lot better than 0.5. Now it's probably more
> like 0.001. Given the historical insight we possess, can we not create
> something better, based on that insight, than what currently exists?
But I find this comment to be overly dramatic. Saying
that the internet
"used to be at least somewhat more useful" is like saying it was easier to
start a fire with two sticks. Give me a break. And the only "noise"
there is on the internet is the noise that you decide to tune in to.
The internet is pull, not push.
*cough* SPAM *cough*
For the most part it's pull, but there's a good bit of push as well.
Based on some recent exchanges, I'm fairly certain you're no fan of
pushed information like spam. Either e-mail or newsgroup based, spam is
not desirable. And then on the web it's not uncommon to have to deal
with pop-up ads. Push happens.
The internet of today is bigger, faster,
and better than the internet of 10 years ago, infinitely more useable,
infinitely more useful, and I'm sorry but there's no going back.
Creating a UUCP network for the hell of it is fine folly. Contemplating
a replacement of the internet is foolish folly.
It's not so much a matter of turning back the progress, or even
considering replacing the internet. It's a matter of clearing a small
channel of sanity through it all, and we'd be utilizing the very same
infrastructure that already exists. I see no technical reason it can't
be done, it's more of a matter of there being enough people interested
in such a thing to make it sustainable.
Now... replacing the internet... hmm... MU HA HA HAHH!!!
-brian.