The fun has been optimized out of the Internet • Hacker News Board

Re: The fun has been optimized out of the Internet

#191

Post by vardalab » Tue, May 05, 2026, 4:19 PM UTC

jonas21 wrote: post #14

> I’ve been mourning the old Internet over the past year or two... As a kid on the Web from the early 2000s through the mid-2010s, we knew we were living through something special. It's funny because I knew lots of people in the early 2000s who were mourning the loss of the "old Internet" then. Kind of like how everyone thinks the music they listened to as a teenager is the best and it's all been downhill since.

I like the forums of the old way better than what we have now, Discord and reddit suck I mean, even back button on reddit does not work 50% of the time, lol. Hacker News is the only thing that we have left that's similar to what we had from forums of the old. And even then, I think I like those forums better. Remember Deja News before Google bought them. Shit like that, that was good.

Re: The fun has been optimized out of the Internet

#192

Post by cucumber3732842 » Tue, May 05, 2026, 4:21 PM UTC

ErneX wrote: post #97

jonas21 wrote: post #14

> I’ve been mourning the old Internet over the past year or two... As a kid on the Web from the early 2000s through the mid-2010s, we knew we were living through something special. It's funny because I knew lots of people in the early 2000s who were mourning the loss of the "old Internet" then. Kind of like how everyone thinks the music they listened to as a teenager is the best and it's all been downhill since.

This also happens to people commenting about the vibes some cities used to have and how some places that no longer exists were so good. While some of that could be true I’m leaning more towards people actually nostalgic of when they were younger.

They're often not wrong though. Nothing ruins a city quite like a white collar industry boom. It normalizes everything down to the "globalhomo" (for lack of a better word) baseline. The bars, the stores, the government, the transportation, it's all the same. Unless you fixate on appearances like the local architecture (a reflection of local climate for the most part) or minutia like "this city has a park by the river" vs "this city has a park by the highway" they're nearly indistinguishable.

Whether it's an old industry town going to shit or a hippies and artists type place or a former the shit it goes to seems to be the same every damn time.

Re: The fun has been optimized out of the Internet

#193

Post by hootz » Tue, May 05, 2026, 4:28 PM UTC

RRRA wrote: post #123

If you think the 2000s were special, try going back to the 90s when you could finish browsing the web! :P

"You have reached the very last page of the Internet. We hope you have enjoyed your browsing. Now turn off your computer, and go have fun."

Re: The fun has been optimized out of the Internet

#194

Post by hootz » Tue, May 05, 2026, 4:30 PM UTC

jazz9k wrote: post #153

The main issue is that we can't really joke around anymore, without someone being offended (and then convincing a mob of people to destroy your life). It sucks the fun out of pretty much anything.

What kind of joke?

Re: The fun has been optimized out of the Internet

#195

Post by moffkalast » Tue, May 05, 2026, 4:31 PM UTC

joe_mamba wrote: post #111

fragmede wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you balance that with the need for money to afford things in life though? There's a lot of things I could go do if I didn't have to think about bills to pay.

You do one thing you don't particularly enjoy too much for 8h/day as your job to earn money, then you do your hobby you can afford and enjoy for Rinse and repeat.

And of course the other chores: cooking, shopping, cleaning, etc. come out of the part you don't particularly enjoy right? Right?

Re: The fun has been optimized out of the Internet

#196

Post by [deleted] » Tue, May 05, 2026, 4:31 PM UTC

finghin wrote: post #68

I really long for a new kind of web browser with a search that only links to pages that are built for the browser. Static pages, which can hyperlink to other sites but must be self-resourced in the media they show, and which are if not highly banal at least banalisable by turning on a ‘reader’ function. Maybe that internet would be hosted on a limited platform, akin to the infrastructure used by private torrent track…

[deleted]

Re: The fun has been optimized out of the Internet

#197

Post by bpavuk » Tue, May 05, 2026, 4:33 PM UTC

sevenzero wrote: post #136

the__alchemist wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I concur! Explore the big, bold world outside the internet. Or, on the internet, stop spending your valuable time on bottom-feeder content like medium articles, facebook, twitter/bluesky, rant blogs, news websites etc.

>bottom-feeder content So 99% of posts on Hackernews, got it.

99%? if you count all submitted posts, then yeah, maybe even 99.5%, but the frontpage is maybe 90%

Re: The fun has been optimized out of the Internet

#198

Post by baal80spam » Tue, May 05, 2026, 4:33 PM UTC

alt227 wrote: post #79

btbuildem wrote: post #70

It's not just the internet -- it's everything in western society, as far as the eye can see. This is what happens when you extract value -- anything of value is extracted, leaving behind things devoid of value. You can hoard "wealth" all you want, but the consequence is that there is nothing left that is worth buying.

This is the intended end result of capitalism, maybe its time we all gave socialism another chance?

How about no.

Re: The fun has been optimized out of the Internet

#199

Post by irishcoffee » Tue, May 05, 2026, 4:35 PM UTC

grahamburger wrote: post #151

armchairhacker wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How did they in the 1990s/2000s/2010s?

In the 90s, my parents made at least 50% more than I do (for similar work, not inflation adjusted), bought a house almost twice as big as mine in a nicer area for 25% less than mine, and traveled internationally for what it costs me to take my kids camping. Well, maybe that last one is a slight exaggeration, but the rest isn't.

I typed out a very snarky response which was in complete agreement with your point, and erased it.

You're right. The economy is... fucked. The "great wealth transfer" will be vacuumed up quickly, and it'll get worse.

World of Warcraft (of all things) had this kind of issue with stats and damage numbers getting into the absurd range, so they did a stat crunch. We need a global stat crunch.

Re: The fun has been optimized out of the Internet

#200

Post by moffkalast » Tue, May 05, 2026, 4:37 PM UTC

the__alchemist wrote: post #52

functionmouse wrote: post #2

I agree, but it's been said by all... make homebrew software for an old Nintendo console pick up cross stitching or weaving make an independent film with a friend; use stuff from your kitchen as props find a borderline functional instrument at your local thrift store write a 1 page short story in pen it's not enough anymore to merely criticize this bad time we're having

I concur! Explore the big, bold world outside the internet. Or, on the internet, stop spending your valuable time on bottom-feeder content like medium articles, facebook, twitter/bluesky, rant blogs, news websites etc.

The big, bold world outside the internet is arguably far more locked down, enshittified and regulated than the online world.

I mean look at cities, removing parks, benches, trying to make it impossible to even stand without paying for existing. The countryside is all bought up, every inch of grass owned and people itching to tell you to get the fuck off their property. Can't do anything anywhere anymore.

You'd have to go somewhere incredibly remote to find any boldness left, like international waters or the Australian outback. The civilized world is just bureaucracy with extra steps.