That’s not current so likely not part of the scope of the authors project. But it was still an interesting read so thanks for sharing.

For good reason. 90s web was full of independence and experimentation. Nobody really knew what was good or bad design and the Internet hadn’t been commercialised. So people just did stuff for fun.

The era you described was when corporate entities took ownership of the web with walled gardens like social networks and blogging platforms. Microsoft were stifling innovation in browser tech, and w3c were asleep at the wheel. So much of the web was built around Flash and other proprietary formats. It was basically the dark ages for web development.

Much as I dismiss many claims made about Apple inventing the smart phone, the iPhone was definitely a pivotal player in changing web technology to become what it is today (for better or for worse).

I suspect tech has little to do with it: we all mostly miss being 20 years younger and not having gray hair.