> People made content because they wanted to, and it was generally better quality than the corporate blogspam we have now.
I agree. But the web was smaller then and I'd guess that in absolute numbers the amount of personal websites and blogs is greater now. They're just drenched in a tsunami of noise and search engines won't help you find them.
> The commercialisation of the internet was a mistake.
And inevitable as capitalism has a tendency to commodify almost everything, sooner or later.