i think this article gets one thing wrong: it presumes that a less centralized internet means everyone has to run their own servers. back in the dial-up era, this wasn’t a problem, because many of the things you’d want to self-host were offered by your ISP. paying for dial up internet often meant getting a free email address, free web hosting, shell access, etc. you didn’t have to be a computer expert or keep a server in your garage to have your own web presence, independent of large companies. and you weren’t locked in because there was real competition with ISPs. the rural area i grew up in had at least 3 local providers back in the day, all small businesses.
of course, im sure there were places where AOL was the only game in town. YMMV. and today, the broadband companies have monopolies / duopolies, so it can’t be replicated.
still, i bet a lot of people would be served by a shared / community hosting scheme in the spirit of old ISPs. tildes are kind of like that, though its heavily focused on computing enthusiasts. i wish non-experts had something like that too. sometimes, i try to envision what that would be like.
i think this article gets one thing wrong: it presumes that a less centralized internet means everyone has to run their own servers. back in the dial-up era, this wasn’t a problem, because many of the things you’d want to self-host were offered by your ISP. paying for dial up internet often meant getting a free email address, free web hosting, shell access, etc. you didn’t have to be a computer expert or keep a server in your garage to have your own web presence, independent of large companies. and you weren’t locked in because there was real competition with ISPs. the rural area i grew up in had at least 3 local providers back in the day, all small businesses.
of course, im sure there were places where AOL was the only game in town. YMMV. and today, the broadband companies have monopolies / duopolies, so it can’t be replicated.
still, i bet a lot of people would be served by a shared / community hosting scheme in the spirit of old ISPs. tildes are kind of like that, though its heavily focused on computing enthusiasts. i wish non-experts had something like that too. sometimes, i try to envision what that would be like.