2.28.11 - 9:30AM
- by
Jason Newman

The Worst Observation in Internet History

topic:
Humor
Videos
Retro Web
Tech
Internet on TV

Worst prediction Internet Can you believe in the early days of the World Wide Web, people were civil and respectful to each other? Really. It's true.

We had to independently verify this clip (found while researching this "What Is Internet" compilation) to confirm its authenticity -- so blown away were we at the sea change between then and now.

Enough rambling. I (less than) proudly present:

The Worst Observation in Internet History

related:// 'What Is Internet, Anyway?' - An Urlesque Compilation of Early Internet Clips

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3.01.11

By Mathew

Neutral

A good argument for communicating via non-anonymous sites. Who reads comments anyways? Not me!

3.03.11

By Dan

Neutral

This was a perfectly valid comment regarding the internet as it was before it was popular/before the general population was on it.

3.03.11

By Zaskoda

Neutral

I feel strongly that this all changed rather suddenly in the mid to late 90s when services like AOL changed the barrier of access to the Internet.

Previously, there was a significant technological hurdle that people had to overcome to get online. It required self education. This created a completely different social environment. Post AOL, compuserve, etc. - anyone and everyone started pouring online.

There was a huge swell of resentment towards these groups of people when they first starting pouring into internet chat rooms - and for good reason. What followed this influx of people was a detrimental change to the Internet.

Believe it or not, spam and viruses were once rarely an issue. In fact, some of the first viruses were actually fun and interesting. Now the Internet is filled with people who don't understand the technology along with other people who prey on them for financial gain.

The Internet was a brief yet beautiful window into the best side of humanity.