How old are you? The older web was a crap-shoot, and every little action could nickel-and-dime you if you let it, to the point that Google at-first felt like a breath of fresh-air, and before that Yahoo, Compuserve, AOL and more were often treated as freemium refuges from the possibility of stumbling-upon something truly scammy. Long-distance calls and SMS cost money, beyond the regular phone-bill.

If anything, I regularly delve into shadier, or at least less familiar, corners of the internet today than I ever did before the advertisers blacklisted anything fun, and the porn-adverts I ignore instead are downright respectful compared to the pop-up ads that were everywhere back in the day.

… but yes, it seems every Tom, Dick and Jane with a blog has a side-hustle now, often selling the service of ordering via scary foriegn websites so you can recieve the same products drop-shipped from China as any retailer, only with a slightly-smaller markup. At least you usually have to visit their blogs to find that out, rather than them knocking your door or cold-calling to sell you the latest and greatest from Amway.

Internets origins lie in the Semi-Automated Ground Environment & the Phoenix Program. It was rolled out to CIA-approved universities & invite-only sites for journalists. It will still be part of a bright future. Technology looks sinister when it is held in its most developed forms by the worst people imaginable. They’re already scared of what they started.

Yes, I was just talking to my kids about this. I sometimes think the web is just so bad now, I’m not sure i want to spend any significant time on it.

That was, of course the goal when I started degoogling 7 or 8 years ago, but I didn’t think I would be as disgusted as I am.

Yep, I know what you mean. Take it as a good reason to spend more time reading physical books, playing with your dog, making art, going outside and talking to humans, etc. That’s arguably the real payoff of becoming aware of all this shit.