The internet is already a class based internet. Why do you think SO many services want you to login, or force you to their mobile apps? They are curating your experience to be as extractive as possible, and if you're not worth much money, they absolutely ditch you, or "pivot" away from that user base.
Attention doesn't matter, attention that generates revenue for corporations does. If you think there's some egalitarian process happening here... you're misunderstanding how the incentives in this system play out.
And no - I don't think the 90s internet is coming back. To be frank, I don't give a flying fuck about your mom and whether she can use mIRC or not (or my mother, for that matter). I care about my kids, and the experiences they'll have with technology.
I think dropping my children into this ad-riddled, dopamine hijacking, carefully crafted to be exploitative technological environment is just a damn irresponsible thing to be doing. And if that means ad-blockers as a side effect... great.
Then I'll vote to burn that damn thing down every chance that's presented. I don't think people should be served up addictive experiences through always present devices to sell them shit they don't need with funding from ads. Full fucking stop. What a fucking dystopia you present as some progressive space. Blech... It's only progressive in the sense that everyone gets the same gruel of meaningless, unfulfilling content.