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  October 10th, 2024  --  11:46pm
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Been thinking about the "smolweb" a lot lately. Surfing the 
old web and checking out gopher holes. I wonder how much of
it is yearning for the '90's. I think there is some aspect
of that, but also it's just that the current web is
ridiculous. I hate that being a part of society today
requires shit like a smartphone and neverending apps.

The best solution that I've been able to come up with is
simply not using things unless absolutely required. I've
avoided many apps and haven't been on social media in 
over a decade, so that's easy. But I still lurk on reddit
and imageboards. It's just ridiculous how much crap you 
have to put up with just to read text online. This is what
has drawn me back to lowtech, web 1.0 stuff.

I'm not opposed to current technology. I just dislike the 
need to always be available and connected. That is difficult
to avoid. But websites today are trash. They're built to 
keep you continuously scrolling so they can place more 
ads in your feed.

Anyways, just rambling here. I just feel like everything 
kind of peaked with web 1.0... webrings for communities, 
messengers/irc for communication, information everywhere. 
Even Myspace wasn't terrible. I do enjoy having the 
better hardware and Internet connection. I think it's 
great to have videos like on youtube... for informational 
purposes used in moderation.

Some of the best times in my life in the last decade have 
been when I have eschewed a cell phone and used a home 
phone (using a VOIP ATA). It's just impossible to function 
in the current world without a cell phone. I've dropped 
down to a limited laptop and lived in a bungalow during 
those same time periods... I enjoyed it despite some of 
the inconveniences. I'm just looking to find a balance.

~bc