I seem to remember the web of 1999 very differently: Java applets for navigation trees, stuff that requires ActiveX and only works in IE on Windows, HTML tables with background images in cells for layout, almost nobody used SSL, almost no server could max out a reasonably fast connection (if you were lucky enough to live/work where broadband was available). Barely any audio/video.
Yes, some things were better and easier then, but it wasn't all great.
In my opinion, most technological problems have been solved: Broadband is widely available, we have fairly good standards for HTML/CSS/JavaScript, reliance on plugins and stuff like ActiveX and Java is at an all time low. The question is now what we do with our newly-gained freedom – and as usual, this one is trickier than the technical stuff.
This is the 1999 I remember as well, with the addition of visual clutter (see present-day excite.com for a reminder), JavaScript everywhere (DHTML, not AJAX), and pop-up and pop-under ads making the Flash ads of today look tame and gentle--those that don't autoplay video, at least. I've heard OP's tale before, but it was certainly no more than a tale by the late 90s.
And "blazing fast" is definitely a relative term. I remember the feeling of liberation when we got rid of dial-up, but there were still plenty of seconds-long load times just to see the main content--only to find it scrunched between two fixed-width sidebars (arranged in a table). And it was quite possible that the page would do its utmost to slow your browser down with custom scrollbars and cursors.
Image maps for site navigation, font size=1, and precious little free hosting of user content without ads pasted at the top and bottom of the page, more prominent than ever.
Oh, unencrypted data was an even bigger issue back then. I remember still having ethernet hubs at the time and watchin the data go to and from my buddies computer on the our network.
It feels we've all been through a huge circle that landed not far from where we were, except built on different foundations and with higher resolution content (hd images, and videos). Still loads of crappy websites full of popup and void of content, javascript only webpages, some good surprises from time to time though, lots of dusty tech still worthy (IRC, ML, boards). As if we were optimizing the wrong variables.
Yes, some things were better and easier then, but it wasn't all great.
In my opinion, most technological problems have been solved: Broadband is widely available, we have fairly good standards for HTML/CSS/JavaScript, reliance on plugins and stuff like ActiveX and Java is at an all time low. The question is now what we do with our newly-gained freedom – and as usual, this one is trickier than the technical stuff.
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