The summer that never ended.
In relation to the internet, summer never ending was never a thing.
Eternal September¹ is a thing.
In relation to the internet, summer never ending was never a thing.
Eternal September¹ is a thing.
Looking back, I'd estimate that it took another 4-6 years before the usenet I met in those years died. Some obscure parts held on longer than others. It was an influx of trolls at the same time that legitimate traffic slowly died off. Back then, I blamed the web forums that were starting to divert and diffuse participation.
I hadn't yet come to appreciate the insatiable need for humans to form ranks and piss on things. To not only root their identity and self-worth in the exclusive, the new, but to try to salt the earth and deny others the use of unoccupied ground.
Now, I recognize more cycles and waves to everything. I have an almost, but not quite, Buddhist outlook on the nature of things. But, it doesn't bring me satisfaction nor clarity. It's hard to put to words, but is more defeatism or morose nostalgia. It's hard not to think that the imagined mountains of youth aren't really sand dunes that slip and flow to consume every step of a futile climb. All this activity and change may be the thin layer of growth on coral, or the irregular fringe of a petri dish.