> stolen out from under us.

Who is "us"?

The internet is available to more people in more countries than ever before. There's more content on the internet than ever before. It's a part of every day life for nearly everyone in the world.

That's what's happening to the internet. It's no longer a corner where quirky tinkerers were the only ones who could access it.

And the promise of the internet was never to be just that.

It was meant to be a vehicle for humanity (along with all it's warts). That's what you're seeing. The rest of humanity coming on-line.

The attitude of "this isn't what it was meant to be" presumes that it was meant to be anything at all. Similar to a kid that doesn't want to share their legos with the rest of the class.