blogstory: HUGS ({})
If webrings are already forgotten then the BBS, ftp and Usenet really would have been inappropriate as too ancient?
The early 1990s were exciting times for computer entrepreneurs until the DOTCOM Wall Street bubble burst.
In fact, rarely talked about, the world's economy never fully recovered from the "Y2K" scare...
Then the epidemic of consecutive institutional disasters: in 2001 the 9/11, Afghan 2.0, Iraq 2.0, 2008 "Great recession", Libya, Syria, Egypt, Ukraine, economic sanctions against Russia...
I may have left out some events but the 21st century is 180 degree out of phase with what my generation had hopes for the future 21st century to become.
I am now convinced this current sad state of world affairs is a necessary part of a great transition, outing the institutional governance rot and systemic contagion that needs to be permanently removed...
Perhaps the 22nd century will reveal an advanced community of People world wide. In that vein P2P is a promising trend.
Hug to all (({}))
LOL :D
toxicTom: Just a few thoughts before I'm off to bed:
BBS are kind of "museum"-famous and the Usenet is alive still - even if it a rather retired life (so0me would call it undead). And (S)FTP is my daily bread and butter. I think webrings are kind of an "inside thing" of the early www. I thought they were kind of a cool idea and I used them often. But with the commercialisation of the www the idea kind of "withered". Webrings depended on the goodwill of the participants and the enthusiasm of the organizers... well look what became of the www.
BBS was before my time, but I used to use the Usenet in the 90's and was a great lurker in IRC ;-)
Now, honestly - while the Iron Curtain had me lagging behind in computer technology, regarding the internet I was on the forefront (comparatively, in Europe and especially Germany). I had a 2MBit connection to the university backbone in 1994 (shared by the whole dorm, but only a handful of people had an internet (or network at all) ready machine at that time. By 1995 I knew HTML, which kind of laid the foundation of what I'm earning my bread with today.
And how I miss IRC...
Concerning your visions of the development of society I wish I could share your optimism. While I'm all for P2P and freedom of information and so on... I think the most accurate visions of what will be were written by William Gibson (I'm sure you know what I mean).
({}) Hugs and happy greetings Tom,
Thank you for that deep-well of experience and dynamic topics that continues to effect society in so many ways today!
I do have a good idea of some your experiences as your interest in computers & internet guided your career choices...
"how I miss IRC..." There is great depth of meaning there ;)
The IRC chat boxes were amazing to reach family, friends, and where strangers became new found friends from far away places, it was so much better than mailing a letter!
I recall great IRC chats and even talking with lost family members who were so very distant and would be difficult to visit otherwise.
As for William Gibson's cyberpunk stories and a Dystopia vision of the future, I never read or got into his productions and did not follow cyberpunk themes. I resonated with a techno vision to ease mankind out of the corporatocracy-job-poverty-misery meme that was partially encapsulated in the original Star Trek series where the concept of money was obsolete and a museum relic. The future vision was of World wide freedom with advancement and the exploration of the heavens are the norm...
William G. seems to have published the establishment's playbook (he certainly did successfully foresee the 2014 era) and yet the Earth story has not reached a conclusion as P2P and other grassroots movements resist the institutional control meme.
A quote from William G: "The Future Will View Us As a Joke" see:
http://www.motherjones.com/media/2014/10/william-gibson-peripheral-vision-time-travel-interview Chatting with you now I realize that this conversation has taken a very interesting path that I am thankful for :)
I recall many discussions of the oligarchs & aristocrats plans leading to a dystopic future, and the ruling elites of the world have this playbook with large think-tank organizations and covert agencies (WTO, IMF, WB, G20, U.N., Bilderberg, CFR, Royal society, NSA, GCHQ, and many others) to make it happen with all the member nation states of the world cooperating (or waring with the few who resist).
To reply to your comment: "I think the most accurate visions of what [future] will be were written by William Gibson"
I think you are saying "Resistance is futile" and the Borg have conquered the Earth...
(That is my attempt at humor and a bit of info out of the byte of data...)
I think the story of the resistance has not been written, if so, I do not recall reading it.
I repeat that I have not followed William G stories, but of course I am aware of his popular stories (Neuromancer) but not a fan and thus I can not comment on his work, having not read them.
Over the decades my research revealed the institutional governance and the destructive path it is leading humanity down.
Diverging off that path and rejecting that empire/control meme is a conscious intentional vision I embrace.
I wish you to embrace a vision that rejects the destructive meme too, do not give up and think "resistance is futile".