Computing before the mid-2000s wasn't as cool as movies made it out to be. Almost nobody had the kind of setups shown in the videos or fast internet or even knew what they were doing. If I had known about the hardware or the programs listed in the videos I still wouldn't have been using them because very few were able to afford tech like that and it rarely met expectations. Companies were often selling a fantasy, gadgets and software for a future that hadn't arrived yet and only really worked in movies where performance limitations don't exist and everyone is an expert hacker and millionaire. 20 and 25 years ago salaries were much lower but some of those computers cost $4000 and software programs started at around $40 but some were over $100. Unless you were working in the industry how would you even make the money back without a modern internet? You were better off spending that money on a car even they didn't depreciate as fast as new computers or expensive software.
The internet was better because big sites played a smaller role and it was an unregulated new frontier like the wild west through the early 2000s. But really it was better because there was almost nothing to do so a lot of people used it for a few minutes on their lunch break to check their email and check the news headlines and then went on with their lives and still put effort into their relationships.
Computing and the internet before the arrival of Youtube, Facebook, and dual-core processors could have and should have been a lot better but it wasn't in large part due to some greedy key players like Bill Gates. And millions of trolls and scam-artists and opportunists like PAG. If the internet was all Winstons it could have been a great place but it had enough people like PAG and Roosh to make it bad and slow down progress.
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