Not everyone was aware of the BBS'es and then later (dialup/net accessed) FTP sites. Besides the hassle getting onto some of these FTP sites was time consuming as well, putting aside state interference, like redirecting your own dialup call to their own dialup FTP site.
> But there are two main differences that make me think those days were better
Simpler times, less variables, people hadnt found the weaknesses in RFC protocols, phishing attempts online and offline and other forms of deception and criminal intent, people were more trusting back then, less exposed to negative situations of varying magnitude. A classic example of ignorance is bliss.
One thing could be considered absolute or constant, the speed at which data can be obtained has increased, and the range of ideas people can access has increased. Will this affect humans in a negative or positive way?
>These days, software is often shipped half-baked because they rely on the ability to update frequently over the internet.
There is only so much testing you can do in the lab, so why not get early adopters to do the testing for you? It could be cheaper.