while you are right, the net did loose some things when everybody hopped on. there wasn't any spam. internet services were unblocked. &c.
on the other hand, network bandwidth was poor and there was very little content available. neither google nor wikipedia would exist without the unwashed masses. i don't think the evolution of the net (or computers for that matter) is a story of the good old days and constant regression or the converse. i think it's a story of (slightly? how pessamistic are you?) more advances than regressions. - erik On Thu Jul 27 13:24:54 CDT 2006, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > Ronald G Minnich wrote: > > > > see, the arpanet, ca. 1976, where we all trusted each other. Once the > > masses came in, it was all over. > 1. CIX and others provided alternate backbones to NSF, enabling > commercial traffic > 2. Delphi (which I founded) saw the resulting opportunity and started > bringing in the masses > 3. Delphi was purchased by Rupert Murdoch, who thought the Net was a > broadcast medium and thus blew it big time > 4. AOL seized on the resulting vacuum and brought in the masses of masses. > > So money transformed the Net from an ivy league faculty club into Real > Life. Could you envision any other outcome? > > Money is one of those things that removes civilization from > civilization. And money always finds a way in. And yes, I did my part.
