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The internet is already over (2022)

samkriss.substack.com

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Re: The internet is already over (2022)

#261

Post by avh02 »

leovingi wrote: post #185
Ylpertnodi wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>literally nobody thought this, perhaps except a handful of oddballs. So not literally nobody?

Given that the original comment implied that the reason we could not have an "open and really big" internet is because of the handful of oddballs that thought 5G towers caused Corona, yes, it might as well be literally nobody.

you can still have an open and really big internet with these people, the question is if it remains anything like the bastion of great thought the "open and really big" part implies (along with the example provided in the original post I was replying to)

Re: The internet is already over (2022)

#262

Post by big-green-man »

What a wonderful article. It really helped me to understand what I've been feeling as of late.

The companies that built what we think of as the modern internet, they tried to build perpetual motion machines. They've built unsustainable businesses chasing investor money, based on the idea that they can sell people things better, give them more of what they want, entire environments built around interaction and engagement. And then, like the foresight lacking Rube Goldberg engineers they are, they created a thing that can do all the engagement for them and unleashed it. I have no doubt in my mind that when the last user deletes their Facebook app from their phone, engagement will be at an all time high.

I remember reading something about how most internet bandwidth usage is not people sending things to each other, but machines mindlessly sending nonsense, and what we see is a fraction of the total. It appears that that is the fate of the visible internet as well, and coming very soon.

Re: The internet is already over (2022)

#263

Post by big-green-man »

JohnFen wrote: post #202
imiric wrote: post #151

This is an overly wordy article, that I think misses the mark. The internet _as the Western world knows it today_ will not be the same in a few decades. But then again, it's hardly the same today as it was 30 years ago either. A few things affect this: - Advertising. It's everywhere and corrupts every form of media. Content is made to appease advertisers, and web services are built to extract data from users. The int…

> The internet will survive. It will just be very different. The internet will continue to exist, certainly. However, it does become a more hostile and unpleasant place over time. Because of that, it's much less useful to me than it used to be and that trend doesn't appear to be changing.

Yeah, I think the internet is going to get back to it's roots: a place to publish documents and send emails. Those documents might be videos, but ultimately it looks to me like all the social this and that have been a big, decades long slow motion flop. It's a great replacement for telephones and TV and libraries, everything else that's come out of it seems to be, from inception, perpetually propped up by investors hoping it works out eventually. I think the time is coming now where people are beginning to see that the vision is not materializing.

Re: The internet is already over (2022)

#264

Post by big-green-man »

account42 wrote: post #196
torginus wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly I welcome the 'death' of the internet with open arms. Irrespective of the enshittification flavor of the day, the end result is the same - face to face human relationships will be back in vogue again, and the internet will go back to a complimentary role at best. I would also like people to let go of the idea that the internet is Serious Business. People who live their lives on Twitter, discussing political…

The "Internet" didn't kill direct human interactions, the engagement economy did. This economy will continue to exist and continue to outcompete direct contacts as long as it remains profitable, with or without the Internet.

It's not profitable though. Or, at least, not sustainable, it's short term profitable during the rise of it. How is it actually profitable to distract people from doing productive things in order to get them to waste all their time? Ultimately the music stops.

Re: The internet is already over (2022)

#265

Post by big-green-man »

FpUser wrote: post #36

What a bunch of drivel. Do not even know what to say. "predictions that the Internet would revolutionise the way society works have proved wildly inaccurate." To me it fucking wildly accurate. It did revolutonize a lot for me. Yes I know some people would get a heart attack if they could not show to the rest of the world what did they have for breakfast. Not my problem. I only had good from the Internet so far.

I've had mostly good, but I will be the first to admit that the internet sucked up a lot more of my time than would have been ideal. Most of the benefits I get from the internet are not how I use the internet in my day to day life. Like you said, not your problem, but when talking about this in the context of the masses using it as they do now, you get 2 outcomes: people withering and dying while staring at a screen, or this entire industry collapsing catastrophically.

Re: The internet is already over (2022)

#266

Post by Daneel_ »

stuartjohnson12 wrote: post #5

Powerful contender for favourite thing I've read in the last 30 days.

To each their own. This rapidly lost my attention due to the meandering, abstract writing style. I ended up skim reading down to the conclusion, deciding it was a nihilistic take on things, and moving on.

Variety is the spice of life though, I’m glad it was enjoyed by others.

Re: The internet is already over (2022)

#267

Post by whyoh »

bobthepanda wrote: post #62
parl_match wrote: post #57

> It’s already trite to notice that all our films are franchises now, all our bestselling novelists have the same mass-produced non-style, and all our pop music sounds like a tribute act. This whole article reads as "i expected things to stay the same and they are" There are still tons of great films being made, and new concepts spinning up - just in non-traditional places or ways - netflix, apple tv, etc. So they're…

There’s even new top 40 pop music that’s doing well. It’s hard to say that Chappell Roan is particularly derivative of anything, as an example, and before that you had Billie Eilish breaking in, the popularization of niche genres like Jersey club music, etc. A lot of the pop music kvetching is usually code for “new music that I like and find familiar is hard to find.”

>It’s hard to say that Chappell Roan is particularly derivative of anything

I've never heard of her, but the first search result I got is this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RKqOmSkGgM

It seems very derivative to me.

And FWIW I think there's plenty of high quality and original/creative music out there nowadays. But the 'top 40' category does seem quite stale and boring (judging by the music I hear in shopping malls/bars...).

Re: The internet is already over (2022)

#268

Post by stuartjohnson12 »

Daneel_ wrote: post #266
stuartjohnson12 wrote: post #5

Powerful contender for favourite thing I've read in the last 30 days.

To each their own. This rapidly lost my attention due to the meandering, abstract writing style. I ended up skim reading down to the conclusion, deciding it was a nihilistic take on things, and moving on. Variety is the spice of life though, I’m glad it was enjoyed by others.

This is by far the most common complaint I see directed towards the writings and media that I enjoy the most, both in fiction and in non-fiction. Oblique narratives where nothing happens, nobody is happy, everyone dies, and no message is taught or learned are my favourite. Interstellar. Neon Genesis Evangelion. Full Metal Jacket. Most recently, the latest instalment of EPIC: The Musical.

I can't really explain why I like them so much. They scratch a cosmic itch I don't fully understand, and the answer isn't simply validating negative sentiment toward the world or other trivial possibilities that immediately spring to mind.

Re: The internet is already over (2022)

#269

Post by woooooo »

imiric wrote: post #245
woooooo wrote: post #229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> romanticized platitude of the 90s. I'm staying in romantic land, it beats the heck out of the government moderating which information I see for my own good.

Ignoring the problems of global interconnectedness doesn't make them go away. Information can be weaponized and used against you in ways that are difficult to detect and prevent. We know that propaganda, like advertising, is highly effective, and the internet is the best medium we've invented yet for broadcasting it. At what point do you prioritize issues of national security that threaten your society and way of lif…

It's fascinating to have a conversation like this in the context of AIPAC and the Gaza war.

Re: The internet is already over (2022)

#270

Post by Nasrudith »

imiric wrote: post #245
woooooo wrote: post #229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> romanticized platitude of the 90s. I'm staying in romantic land, it beats the heck out of the government moderating which information I see for my own good.

Ignoring the problems of global interconnectedness doesn't make them go away. Information can be weaponized and used against you in ways that are difficult to detect and prevent. We know that propaganda, like advertising, is highly effective, and the internet is the best medium we've invented yet for broadcasting it. At what point do you prioritize issues of national security that threaten your society and way of lif…

Sorry, National Security as an excuse is still utterly broken from its abuse in the early 2000s. We aren't buying this "bomb the village in order to save it" bullshit doublethink.
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