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Comment by agumonkey | Hacker News Reader

Kudos on your evolution. But this gets me thinking, remember when computing didn't felt "thin" ? even screen had a different feel. I don't know if it's our brain getting used and losing a kind of magic filter.

Anyway, I should probably imitate you, every time I see some people crafting real things I have a little blip of envy.

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It definitely felt different to me in the beginning years. I've been at the web thing for about 12 years now. In the beginning, while it was often very difficult, there was an excitement and freshness. It could have simply been because we were moving to web 2.0, CSS and all of its "magic".

While making stuff is only a side thing, it makes the grind during the week tolerable. I feel like I have something meaningful in my life (outside of my family) and it has given me purpose. I'm grateful for it. And it is so damn fun!

I still get that feeling sometimes, even after 25 years with computers at home. But it is so dependent on what I do. I get this feeling when I create stuff on my own terms, like making a game or a website. I also get this feeling when discovering other people’s personal creations online.

It was before the invasion of late stage capitalism in computing, creating the attention economy.

Computing was a thing by geeks, for geeks. It was revolutionary. It was fun. Now it's the lowest common denominator. Instagram.

the small culture aspect is something i think about too, it was the outcome of a certain group of people liking a similar idea and way of doing things. now it's diluted in all of the social issues (privacy, fame, short term attention)

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