@meltedbrain_y2k @nyx @ink @lanodan normal people used the internet in the 90s/2000s they just werent on forums. centralized big websites were always going to be a thing given enough time. they arent necessarily the problem either.

not to mention android phones would get sleeker and more functional with time (though they would obviously take a different stylistic direction, they also would still be smartphones.). i think most consumer electronics werent made in a vaccum and were largely either inspired or derived by preexisting tech.

the reason the old internet (hell even when i was first learning to use a computer i was witnessing that transition in real time to the late 2000s style of web design) was better wasnt necessarily due to the decentralization, but id say it was due to less corporatization (due to it being smaller). i prefer fedi over twitter because it feels "real", or atleast realer than most social media sites. most people on here act like actual people (albeit weirdos but that comes with the terrirory, ntm i like it that way).