Meanderware: Things I loved about cyberspace

some notes: this was pleasant enough to walk around in for ten minutes, yet ultimately one could not deny both the lo-fi texture induced headache.. and the dubious digital naivety on display.

while we netizens are entirely free to create our own alternative internet future history (and in doing so challenge accepted norms for what's possible) it's another, distinctly ideological thing entirely to suggest 'the internet' was once remotely like this.. was it though? this ain't johnny 'techbro' mnemonic, after all, complete with digital dolphins splashing through the dancing data. like ice t said - "just trash. get that outta here!"

(queue meme of that young woman gently taking her golden haired aunt back to their room to play their 'deliberately retro' gaming console - the aunt waxing wobbly and lyrical about myspace, aol cd's, webrings and bubblegum colored monitors, or whatever.)

such artistic contributions as yours, while much needed, nevertheless require keen, philosophical skepticism to prevent accidental deep-diving (/back into) what seems a very mainstream techno-romanticism. as a warped form of digital social mis-relationship, 'the net' doesn't appear something that can be fundamentally changed by merely harking back (or forward!) to the good old daze of cosy, small scale communities, fediverses, leet haxx0r cryptography or vhs-era 'this is unix - i know this!' #aesthetics. it / i.t just seems too.. dumb for that. i dunno.

i'd like to talk with you more about this, so feel free to contact me.

darkly laughable nonsense to avoid: