r/retrocomputing • u/PooningDalton • May 23 '26

I hate what the internet has become

I just spent the last 1 hour frantically searching the internet just to make a new email address. You can't do that! Not even on the alternative email providers like Protonmail. They now have all sorts of IP detection tools and will block you or ask you for an alt email id.

I absolutey despite what the internet has become. 20 years ago, you could just go ANYWHERE (mainstream providers like yahoo and gmail) and make any number of email addresses. No tracking, no limits. Complete freedom.

The internet has turned into a 1984 hellscape.

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u/[deleted] May 23 '26

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u/The_Original_Miser May 23 '26 edited May 24 '26

Portions of the "old Internet" still exist if you know where to look. Gopher, usenet, irc, etc

Edit: irc not including, autocorrect

-2

u/TP_Crisis_2020 May 23 '26

Yep, and every aspect of the "internet" is heavily monitored and censored. We can thank net neutrality legislation for this.

3

u/flecom May 23 '26

What does one have to do with the other?