ASCII nostalgia
Last week I talked about how the ānetās nature of instant publishing is the perfect platform for navel-gazing (where we are now) and prognosticating (where are we going). My friend Sarah responded that the third category should be nostalgia, or where weāve been. Iām in a nostalgia phase.
Iāve been playing on this network for about three years now. Which doesnāt seem like very long, but in āInternet-yearsā (where time is very wide) itās a long, long time. Three years ago, there was no web. Netscape didnāt exist, Mosaic was just a glint in Andreesenās eye. There were no background images, no ad banners, no jpegs. Just ASCII. Lots and lots of ASCII.
When I first logged on, I dove into The Well at 2400 baud. Email, gopher, usenet, the beast that is picospan (the Wellās conferencing system), MUDs, etc. All in glorious ASCII text. Black on white. When I upgraded my modem to 9600 baud I thought it couldnāt get any better! When all youāre looking at is text, thereās not much need for anything faster.
| Iāve been riding a nostalgia wave lately. Yes, I surf, yes at 28.8 or sometimes T1 speeds at work. And yes, Iām devoted fan of c | net, suck, Hotwired, Urban Desires, etc., etc., etc. And yes, Iām excited about Java. But lately Iām getting the most out of the ānet by reading mail and usenet news via the palmtop at 2400 baud. When it comes right down to it, the webās background images, Java animations and floating jpegs are all just eye candy. All Iām looking for is the ASCII. |