404 Page Not Found from Kate Wagner

Make your way through this "404 Page Not Found" piece by Kate Wagner. It's a lengthy piece reflecting on Web 1.0, the early days of Internet before frameworks and mass homogenization took place. It's also filled with fascinating quotes that work quite well, even completely out of context. Here's a few:

The internet is perhaps the most potent and active delivery system in history for the thesis "capitalism will obliterate everything you know and love" - online it happens in real time.

These disembodied ghosts - ancient in computer years - blink back at me because tech companies know that, based on my age, I like them. And I do like them. I miss where they came from - it’s a place I’ve found is no longer there.

Because websites had to either become apps or self-optimize for mobile, web design declined from its creative, more variegated heights to become flat, highly minimalistic, and multi-platform, and the results are, frankly, fucking boring.

Nostalgia, I’m reminded, is profitable - it remains one of the easiest to execute and cheapest grifts of neoliberal culture.

The piece is not so much about yearning to go back to the days of Geocities and MySpace as much as it is reflecting on how the major platforms have changed the landscape, generally in a direction that is more stale.

I can't say that I can't add much to this or even comment eloquently enough on it beyond simply stating that it's a worthwhile read and even more worth a reflection on for a bit.