Why isn't the internet more fun and weird?
I submit that the reason the internet is boring is that these causes are all obvious to us, and this comment won&#x27;t get upvoted:<p>1) apps created niche proprietary software everywhere that used to be free and open media<p>2) the declarative, idempotent roots of the world wide web have been replaced by imperative, brittle Javascriptified spaghetti code<p>3) Javascript build systems have largely obfuscated any code that can be seen<p>4) Web 2.0 introduced private social networks in walled gardens that in many ways offer fewer privacy guarantees than before (due to the profit motive of exploiting user info)<p>5) Monopolies and duopolies now receive the lion&#x27;s share of funding for research (which tends to aim for increasing profits and attracting eyeballs instead of fundamentally advancing the state of the art)<p>I&#x27;ll stop there. It&#x27;s hard to say how many of these are fundamental impasses to having an open internet again..