The idea of the Internet in the 1990s was (Enron and WorldComm and) the notion that people could be connected (what could go wrong???) and that civilization would benefit from it. The idea was that the old systems would be replaced by better ones. Instead, it appears ppl are roughly creating the same power structures and economies online—but with somehow even more ads—intrusive ads.
Circa 1995, the notion was that the Internet would be the great equalizer and introduce us to new ideas that effectively eliminate the disparities that lead people to feel disconnected. Circa 2025, we seem to be using technology to create smaller internets that will echo back what we already think (with ads, of course).
The notion in 1995 was that information should be free, and the structure of common protocols online supports this. However, the Internet today is cluttered with pay-walls and myriad edifices for gating content so people can create edifices for restricting access for the purpose of monetization. The entire concept of cryptocurrency illustrates this.
Cryptocurrency has no intrinsic value. Like without electricity, there literally is no crypto. And, yes, I agree—without electricity there are bigger problems. But gold and silver at least have uses beyond storing wealth, unlike computer money. And don’t get me wrong, I collected baseball cards as a child, but why are we trying to retrofit scarcity in to digital products? The idea behind internet tech was that all people could use it and flourish. Instead, people are — yet again — bolting on apparatuses for establishing hierarchies. It’s flatly stupid. Honestly, if 16 year old me saw this, he probably would have passed on programming class.