Lately I’ve been thinking about what a super power the Internet would be in a just world instead of the one we’re in. Every show immediately has VODs on the singular streaming platform. It’s also the place for streaming games, music, and podcasts.
Would you really bother botting and making a dead internet out of the 2 or 3 social media sites (message boards, tweets, professional)? Those, by the way, keep up with the latest in psychology to make sure it’s not preying on your attention.
Looking for work kind of works because why on Earth would you need ineffectual nonsense like ghost jobs and lots of marketing, and whatever? The national project needs X so you go do X. Every couple of weeks or so you have presentations to elected officials either online or in person silo’d into different categories of desire for innovation.
The operating systems would be fast and sleek. It would be so nice.
I think about this all the time, especially when I get that one tagline about logging on to Hexbear in 2024 communist America. I’m sure there’s a billion reasons for why it didn’t work out, but I always wonder how different the internet would be if the Soviet Union had survived and computerized early, like with the OGAS project. I’m sure enshittification wouldn’t be as rampant. Just like how the USSR provided a progressive political example that the capitalist world had to somewhat keep up with, they would’ve provided an example of an internet not completely squeezed to death by rent-seeking companies.
I wonder so often how different things would be if the USSR had invented the Internet first and survived into the Information Age. Could they have won the cultural war that way? Who knows. But it damn well would have led to some neat Soviet state projects.
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I’d love it if, when I need information on a particular thing in history (I write historical fiction and hate being inaccurate when I include details), I could go to a database site that keeps primary sources and secondary analysis on every topic under the sun, and then navigate to the correct period and category, and find the concept I need information on, and be easily able to look at every period primary source or good secondary source that mentions that thing.
If both social space and Useful Information were centralized, by an authority that benefits more from making it usable and efficient than from dark patterns, “going online” and “looking something up” could both be such pleasant experiences.
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APIs are all public and freely available. Education isn’t locked behind anything. Free encrypted cloud storage. No ads on the sites. No paywalls in the journalism. Flourishing FOSS. You get to see the chain of custody on information. You get access to all the scientific articles. People make widgets for all the science and technology. Freely fork everything and discuss your findings.
Lately I’ve been thinking about what a super power the Internet would be in a just world instead of the one we’re in. Every show immediately has VODs on the singular streaming platform. It’s also the place for streaming games, music, and podcasts.
Would you really bother botting and making a dead internet out of the 2 or 3 social media sites (message boards, tweets, professional)? Those, by the way, keep up with the latest in psychology to make sure it’s not preying on your attention.
Looking for work kind of works because why on Earth would you need ineffectual nonsense like ghost jobs and lots of marketing, and whatever? The national project needs X so you go do X. Every couple of weeks or so you have presentations to elected officials either online or in person silo’d into different categories of desire for innovation.
The operating systems would be fast and sleek. It would be so nice.
It could be such a nice piece of technology.
I think about this all the time, especially when I get that one tagline about logging on to Hexbear in 2024 communist America. I’m sure there’s a billion reasons for why it didn’t work out, but I always wonder how different the internet would be if the Soviet Union had survived and computerized early, like with the OGAS project. I’m sure enshittification wouldn’t be as rampant. Just like how the USSR provided a progressive political example that the capitalist world had to somewhat keep up with, they would’ve provided an example of an internet not completely squeezed to death by rent-seeking companies.
Rejecting cybernetics was an actual Soviet L
I wonder so often how different things would be if the USSR had invented the Internet first and survived into the Information Age. Could they have won the cultural war that way? Who knows. But it damn well would have led to some neat Soviet state projects.
ⓘ This user is suspected of being a bear. Please report any suspawcious behaviour.
I’d love it if, when I need information on a particular thing in history (I write historical fiction and hate being inaccurate when I include details), I could go to a database site that keeps primary sources and secondary analysis on every topic under the sun, and then navigate to the correct period and category, and find the concept I need information on, and be easily able to look at every period primary source or good secondary source that mentions that thing.
If both social space and Useful Information were centralized, by an authority that benefits more from making it usable and efficient than from dark patterns, “going online” and “looking something up” could both be such pleasant experiences.
ⓘ This user is suspected of being a bear. Please report any suspawcious behaviour.
APIs are all public and freely available. Education isn’t locked behind anything. Free encrypted cloud storage. No ads on the sites. No paywalls in the journalism. Flourishing FOSS. You get to see the chain of custody on information. You get access to all the scientific articles. People make widgets for all the science and technology. Freely fork everything and discuss your findings.
I’ve depressed myself
I wish. This world sounds so much better.
ⓘ This user is suspected of being a bear. Please report any suspawcious behaviour.