The web doesn't exist :O - Teh Forum

<body> <div id="header"> <span class="left"> <span class="back"><a href="lthread_list.php?webtag=DEFAULT"><span class="image mobile_back" title="Back"></span></a></span> <span class="image mobile_logo" title="Beehive Forum Logo"></span> </span> <ul> <li> <a class="reply_all" href="lpost.php?webtag=DEFAULT&reply_to=43054.0&return_msg=43054.1"> <span class="image mobile_reply_all"></span><span class="text">Reply to All</span> </a> </li> <li> <a class="navigation" href="#"> <span class="image mobile_navigation"></span><span class="text">Show messages</span> </a> </li> <li> <a class="main" href="#"><span class="image mobile_menu" title="Menu"></span> </a> </li> </ul> </div> <div class="menu main"> <ul> <li><a href="lthread_list.php?webtag=DEFAULT">Messages</a></li> <li><a href="lpm.php?webtag=DEFAULT">Inbox</a></li> <li><a href="lsearch.php?webtag=DEFAULT">Search</a></li> <li><a href="llogon.php?webtag=DEFAULT">Login</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="menu navigation"><a href="lmessages.php?webtag=DEFAULT&msg=43054.1">1–10</a><a href="lmessages.php?webtag=DEFAULT&msg=43054.11">11–20</a>…<a href="lmessages.php?webtag=DEFAULT&msg=43054.41">41–49</a></div> <div id="page_content"> <h3 class="thread_title"><a href="index.php?webtag=DEFAULT&amp;msg=43054.1">The web doesn't exist :O</a> </h3> <div id="messages" data-navigation="43054_1_49_10"> <a name="a43054_1"></a><div class="message" id="message_43054_1"> <div class="message_header"> <div class="message_from"> From: Drew (X3N0PH0N)<span class="message_time">25 Aug 16:47</span> <div class="clearer"></div> </div><div class="message_to">To: ALL<span class="message_count">1 of 49</span><div class="clearer"></div> </div> </div> <div class="message_links"> <a href="lmessages.php?webtag=DEFAULT&msg=43054.1">43054.1</a></div> <div class="message_body"> When I think of the web I *still* think of websites made by individual people and small groups and using a search engine to stumble upon them and ending up getting lost for a day reading about the history of the escalator or whatever. And losing hours here chatting about whatever tangent we got onto today.<br /> <br /> When I think of the web, that's still what I think of. And I've only recently started to realise how disconnected from the reality of today's web that is.<br /> <br /> These days I use youtube, fedi and google to find answers to things on reddit. I virtually never see personal/small community websites and I never get lost reading stuff - I search, get the info, close the tab. We went from personal websites to wordpress blogs to *fucking* Medium. Fuck do I hate Medium. Everything's bland and homogenised. I'm sure the interesting ideas are out there, still, but even then, the tone has changed. No one's writing about what they love for the love of it, it's a stepping stone to something, you're a brand now, you're building an audience, maybe even starting a business.<br /> <br /> So the web that I think of as being the web doesn't exist any more. We just have a few web apps. And we use these gargantuan, heavy, bloated applications to look at text, images and videos. All web browsers are shit now. They're all made by for-profit companies who want to sell your data and show you ads, even Firefox. And they consume *gigabytes* of RAM before even opening a web page.<br /> <br /> It's not just that the web has gone to shit, as I've thought for a long time now, it's that the web *as I think of it* simply no longer exists.<br /> <br /> And I miss it!<br /> <br /> My website's never been much cop cos I'm not a good writer and never know what to write about. But I do like chewing over stuff I've been thinking of and sticking the results up somewhere in case anyone else finds it useful. I've decided to delete my website and replace it with a bunch of links to other stuff.<br /> <br /> I'm going to write about whatever I'm thinking about and put it up on Gemini and Gopher.<br /> <br /> And I'm going to make a (telnet) BBS for people to play around with if I can get the fucker to compile.<br /> <br /> I don't think looking to the past is the right answer in itself, it's not about nostalgia for these technologies (I never used BBSes back in the day, barely touched Gopher and Gemini's new), I just want to have *fun* on/with the internet again. And these things are at least free of all the stuff that ruined the web. And maybe I can have fun messing around with them with my friends.<br /> <br /> If I have a point I guess it's that I've realised the web is actually dead and am beginning my mourning period. I will be dressing like Queen Victoria for the next year or so. And looking for others protocols to put my dick in.</div> <div class="message_footer"> <div class="message_footer_links"><a href="lpost.php?webtag=DEFAULT&reply_to=43054.1&return_msg=43054.1" class="reply"><span class="image post"></span>Reply</a></div> <div class="message_vote_form" data-msg="43054.1"> <span class="rating">0/0</span> <span class="image vote vote_down vote_down_off" title="Vote Down"></span> <span class="image vote vote_up vote_up_off" title="Vote Up"></span> </div> </div> </div><a name="a43054_2"></a><div class="message" id="message_43054_2"> <div class="message_header"> <div class="message_from"> From: william (WILLIAMA)<span class="message_time">25 Aug 17:46</span> <div class="clearer"></div> </div><div class="message_to">To: Drew (X3N0PH0N) <span><span class="image post_read" title="Read: 25 Aug 21:19"></span></span> <span class="message_count">2 of 49</span><div class="clearer"></div> </div> </div> <div class="message_links"> <a href="lmessages.php?webtag=DEFAULT&msg=43054.2">43054.2</a> In reply to <a href="lmessages.php?webtag=DEFAULT&msg=43054.1#a43054_1" target="_self">43054.1</a></div> <div class="message_body"> It's far worse than just people trying to be a brand or whatever. It's the invasion of the voice-snatchers. It's the overflow of poisonous social networking into every aspect of the web. It's that point where if you want to understand what's happening you look at where the Venn diagrams of politics and psychology overlap. I run a writers' website and a couple of writers' asked me whether the site was still needed, because we get all we need from Discord and...and...so on. Not knocking that point of view (or Discord), but if you jump on that track then you have to be 100% alert to who owns the place where you're chatting and who wants to get in.<br /> <br /> Anyway, it's your rant so I'll shut up.<br /> <br /> But you make that BBS and I'll fire up webcrawler to find it. </div> <div class="message_footer"> <div class="message_footer_links"><a href="lpost.php?webtag=DEFAULT&reply_to=43054.2&return_msg=43054.1" class="reply"><span class="image post"></span>Reply</a></div> <div class="message_vote_form" data-msg="43054.2"> <span class="rating">+1/1</span> <span class="image vote vote_down vote_down_off" title="Vote Down"></span> <span class="image vote vote_up vote_up_off" title="Vote Up"></span> </div> </div> </div><a name="a43054_3"></a><div class="message" id="message_43054_3"> <div class="message_header"> <div class="message_from"> From: Drew (X3N0PH0N)<span class="message_time">25 Aug 21:20</span> <div class="clearer"></div> </div><div class="message_to">To: william (WILLIAMA) <span><span class="image post_read" title="Read: 25 Aug 21:21"></span></span> <span class="message_count">3 of 49</span><div class="clearer"></div> </div> </div> <div class="message_links"> <a href="lmessages.php?webtag=DEFAULT&msg=43054.3">43054.3</a> In reply to <a href="lmessages.php?webtag=DEFAULT&msg=43054.1#a43054_2" target="_self">43054.2</a></div> <div class="message_body"> I was hoping people would rant along, so thank you!<br /> <br /> </div> <div class="message_footer"> <div class="message_footer_links"><a href="lpost.php?webtag=DEFAULT&reply_to=43054.3&return_msg=43054.1" class="reply"><span class="image post"></span>Reply</a></div> <div class="message_vote_form" data-msg="43054.3"> <span class="rating">0/0</span> <span class="image vote vote_down vote_down_off" title="Vote Down"></span> <span class="image vote vote_up vote_up_off" title="Vote Up"></span> </div> </div> </div><a name="a43054_4"></a><div class="message" id="message_43054_4"> <div class="message_header"> <div class="message_from"> From: william (WILLIAMA)<span class="message_time">26 Aug 08:43</span> <div class="clearer"></div> </div><div class="message_to">To: Drew (X3N0PH0N) <span><span class="image post_read" title="Read: 26 Aug 17:47"></span></span> <span class="message_count">4 of 49</span><div class="clearer"></div> </div> </div> <div class="message_links"> <a href="lmessages.php?webtag=DEFAULT&msg=43054.4">43054.4</a> In reply to <a href="lmessages.php?webtag=DEFAULT&msg=43054.1#a43054_3" target="_self">43054.3</a></div> <div class="message_body"> But, along with the rant, there's plenty in your post that I recognise as familiar parts of the web. Of course, so much was different simply because so much was new. Today I casually glance at something online as I check the time when I wake up. If I watch television it's more likely to be an internet stream than television. In the house, my phone connects through the internet, but I'm more likely to contact family and friends through a "website" like whatsapp or meta. Back then, using the internet was something you had to go and do: a special activity like cooking a meal or feeding the cat. From the days when nobody else in the house could use a phone if you were on the internet, to today when the cat's food bowl is online 24x7 seems like more than a lifetime. But the same applies to those who 'provided' the web: often the same people who used it. In the early days people had to work hard because it was new, unfamiliar, and their weren't a shedload of shortcuts. There was a ton of crap, but also a ton of jewels, because if you have to work hard, you're likely to try hard. And also you were likely to stick content you cared about out there. Today, if I put up a website at all, it's something I can do in about half an hour including buying the hosting, and have some bland pro-looking site ready to bore people rigid.<br /> <br /> Yes, the internet these days is a vast commercial platform. It offers everything from honest trade to scamming food out of mouths on an industrial scale. It's a shithole of crap information. Some real, some fabricated, most copied many times. It's a public plunge bath where people have discovered they can shit and piss in the water and nobody knows it's them, even as the water turns putrid. And anybody who wants to know who's doing anything can spy on anyone else. </div> <div class="message_footer"> <div class="message_footer_links"><a href="lpost.php?webtag=DEFAULT&reply_to=43054.4&return_msg=43054.1" class="reply"><span class="image post"></span>Reply</a></div> <div class="message_vote_form" data-msg="43054.4"> <span class="rating">0/0</span> <span class="image vote vote_down vote_down_off" title="Vote Down"></span> <span class="image vote vote_up vote_up_off" title="Vote Up"></span> </div> </div> </div><a name="a43054_5"></a><div class="message" id="message_43054_5"> <div class="message_header"> <div class="message_from"> From: koswix<span class="message_time">26 Aug 12:17</span> <div class="clearer"></div> </div><div class="message_to">To: Drew (X3N0PH0N) <span><span class="image post_read" title="Read: 26 Aug 17:47"></span></span> <span class="message_count">5 of 49</span><div class="clearer"></div> </div> </div> <div class="message_links"> <a href="lmessages.php?webtag=DEFAULT&msg=43054.5">43054.5</a> In reply to <a href="lmessages.php?webtag=DEFAULT&msg=43054.1#a43054_1" target="_self">43054.1</a></div> <div class="message_body"> I hate how everything's a fucking video now.<br /> <br /> Search for how to do something (in a program/language/recipe/DIY/hobby) and I'm looking for something that's going to list out the handful of steps required to accomplish a task, in text form that I can easily scan back through as required.<br /> <br /> But no, everthing's a fucking video now.</div> <div class="message_footer"> <div class="message_footer_links"><a href="lpost.php?webtag=DEFAULT&reply_to=43054.5&return_msg=43054.1" class="reply"><span class="image post"></span>Reply</a></div> <div class="message_vote_form" data-msg="43054.5"> <span class="rating">+1/1</span> <span class="image vote vote_down vote_down_off" title="Vote Down"></span> <span class="image vote vote_up vote_up_off" title="Vote Up"></span> </div> </div> </div><a name="a43054_6"></a><div class="message" id="message_43054_6"> <div class="message_header"> <div class="message_from"> From: william (WILLIAMA)<span class="message_time">26 Aug 14:52</span> <div class="clearer"></div> </div><div class="message_to">To: koswix <span><span class="image post_read" title="Read: 29 Aug 21:55"></span></span> <span class="message_count">6 of 49</span><div class="clearer"></div> </div> </div> <div class="message_links"> <a href="lmessages.php?webtag=DEFAULT&msg=43054.6">43054.6</a> In reply to <a href="lmessages.php?webtag=DEFAULT&msg=43054.1#a43054_5" target="_self">43054.5</a></div> <div class="message_body"> Absolutely.<br /> <br /> Unless it's the procedure to fix some complex bit of equipment when there will be no video and instruction 7 reads: "The correct widget is usually the outer one. Grasp it firmly and twist more or less in a figure of eight until it clicks loudly. Take great care not to twist any of the other fourteen very similar widgets as this may destroy your device."</div> <div class="message_footer"> <div class="message_footer_links"><a href="lpost.php?webtag=DEFAULT&reply_to=43054.6&return_msg=43054.1" class="reply"><span class="image post"></span>Reply</a></div> <div class="message_vote_form" data-msg="43054.6"> <span class="rating">0/0</span> <span class="image vote vote_down vote_down_off" title="Vote Down"></span> <span class="image vote vote_up vote_up_off" title="Vote Up"></span> </div> </div> </div><a name="a43054_7"></a><div class="message" id="message_43054_7"> <div class="message_header"> <div class="message_from"> From: Drew (X3N0PH0N)<span class="message_time">26 Aug 17:51</span> <div class="clearer"></div> </div><div class="message_to">To: william (WILLIAMA) <span><span class="image post_read" title="Read: 27 Aug 08:41"></span></span> <span class="message_count">7 of 49</span><div class="clearer"></div> </div> </div> <div class="message_links"> <a href="lmessages.php?webtag=DEFAULT&msg=43054.7">43054.7</a> In reply to <a href="lmessages.php?webtag=DEFAULT&msg=43054.1#a43054_4" target="_self">43054.4</a></div> <div class="message_body"> Yeah, I think that's part of the problem. *Everything* goes through the web. It swallowed (almost) all other protocols. Everything goes through a web API even when that's a terrible idea. If there were (still) other protocols 'competing' with the web, I think the web would have to be better.</div> <div class="message_footer"> <div class="message_footer_links"><a href="lpost.php?webtag=DEFAULT&reply_to=43054.7&return_msg=43054.1" class="reply"><span class="image post"></span>Reply</a></div> <div class="message_vote_form" data-msg="43054.7"> <span class="rating">0/0</span> <span class="image vote vote_down vote_down_off" title="Vote Down"></span> <span class="image vote vote_up vote_up_off" title="Vote Up"></span> </div> </div> </div><div class="message"> Message 43054.8 was deleted</div> <a name="a43054_9"></a><div class="message" id="message_43054_9"> <div class="message_header"> <div class="message_from"> From: Drew (X3N0PH0N)<span class="message_time">26 Aug 17:54</span> <div class="clearer"></div> </div><div class="message_to">To: koswix <span><span class="image post_read" title="Read: 29 Aug 21:55"></span></span> <span class="message_count">9 of 49</span><div class="clearer"></div> </div> </div> <div class="message_links"> <a href="lmessages.php?webtag=DEFAULT&msg=43054.9">43054.9</a> In reply to <a href="lmessages.php?webtag=DEFAULT&msg=43054.1#a43054_5" target="_self">43054.5</a></div> <div class="message_body"> Yeah. The upside of that is that all the weird stuff I used to get lost in on personal websites is now on Youtube. The little channels with 100 followers who do nothing but review car park lifts (actual channel I found, it's great).<br /> <br /> Video and podcasts are where the interesting stuff is now. And I *like* those. But I want explorable, text-based places too.<br /> <br /> And yeah, tech instructions being video-only is an absolute fucking blight. Totally agree.<br /> <br /> (replied to wrong person. I suck at old web)</div> <div class="message_footer"> <div class="message_footer_links"><a href="lpost.php?webtag=DEFAULT&reply_to=43054.9&return_msg=43054.1" class="reply"><span class="image post"></span>Reply</a></div> <div class="message_vote_form" data-msg="43054.9"> <span class="rating">0/0</span> <span class="image vote vote_down vote_down_off" title="Vote Down"></span> <span class="image vote vote_up vote_up_off" title="Vote Up"></span> </div> </div> </div><a name="a43054_10"></a><div class="message" id="message_43054_10"> <div class="message_header"> <div class="message_from"> From: CHYRON (DSMITHHFX)<span class="message_time">27 Aug 12:11</span> <div class="clearer"></div> </div><div class="message_to">To: Drew (X3N0PH0N) <span><span class="image post_read" title="Read: 27 Aug 16:19"></span></span> <span class="message_count">10 of 49</span><div class="clearer"></div> </div> </div> <div class="message_links"> <a href="lmessages.php?webtag=DEFAULT&msg=43054.10">43054.10</a> In reply to <a href="lmessages.php?webtag=DEFAULT&msg=43054.1#a43054_9" target="_self">43054.9</a></div> <div class="message_body"> I hate podcasts, not that I've listened to many. I think I hate the idea of them, I much prefer reading (ok, skimming) and looking at pictures. I mainly use youtube to acquire musics. What I hate most of all is how all websites are CMS, and mostly wordpress. They're really fucking boring. Nobody can code a website anymore, it's all these dumb and highly insecure CMS plugins and addons that are an upgrade nightmare. Don't even get me started on influencers, kill them all.<div class="edit_text">EDITED: 27 Aug 12:13 by DSMITHHFX</div> </div> <div class="message_footer"> <div class="message_footer_links"><a href="lpost.php?webtag=DEFAULT&reply_to=43054.10&return_msg=43054.1" class="reply"><span class="image post"></span>Reply</a></div> <div class="message_vote_form" data-msg="43054.10"> <span class="rating">0/0</span> <span class="image vote vote_down vote_down_off" title="Vote Down"></span> <span class="image vote vote_up vote_up_off" title="Vote Up"></span> </div> </div> </div></div> <div class="message_page_footer"> <ul> <li class="right_col"><form accept-charset="utf-8" method="get" action="lmessages.php" target="_self"><input type="hidden" name="webtag" id="webtag" class="bhinputtext" value="DEFAULT" dir="ltr" /><input type="hidden" name="msg" id="msg" class="bhinputtext" value="43054.11" dir="ltr" /><input type="submit" name="submit" id="keep_reading" value="Keep reading…" class="button" /></form></li> </ul> </div> </div> </body>