Thoughts on Today's Internet

When I read Paul Ford's article and saw the 'History of the Internet' video, it got me thinking about my first experiences with the internet. Though I don't remember particularly when I started using it, my best guess would be sometime in 2007. I remember old site layouts, how my email used to look, and a time before app stores became a big thing. It's surprising how much the internet has evolved, and the role that it plays in daily life has become more widespread. When I was younger, I saw it more as something to use for playing online games and chatting with friends, so I didn't quite grasp its importance and where it was heading until later. Similarly, I wasn't familiar with the notion that the internet was actually becoming more centralized over the years, in a sense becoming restrictive to creativity.

Now with new technologies and motivation though, undoing this centralization is possible, but I believe it'll take a while. The internet of today is controlled by big players like Google and Facebook, and since many people still rely on their services for convenience, being the competition is tough. With a gradual cultural shift and reminder of what the internet aims to be, though, I believe the web will return to its 1990s days of exploration and freedom. Like what was said in the video, we are still beginning to see what lies in store for the web, and how it can connect the world in more profound ways like electricity did.

In my opinion, data is what motivates the big companies to continue centralizing the internet. More data means potential for ad revenue, improvement, and strategy. As much as the internet seems open, what holds it back is this accumulation of data in the hands of few. Transparency, therefore, should be important for the public. Going back to decentralization, a lot of these issues would be minimized because control of this information is spread out.

For me, the web benefits more with the individuality of its early days because it helps inspire innovation/fresher ideas, which is ultimately a good thing as its presence increases in the future.