AnchorDesk |
 |
|
|||
 |
|
Eulogy for Usenet |
|
|
Molly Wood Senior editor Tuesday, January 25, 2005 |
| ||
Add your opinion
This week, BetaNews reported that America Online will be pulling the plug on the old alleyways of Usenet, cutting off member access to its subscribers. Granted, that news alone doesn't herald the death of Usenet, and its original inhabitants, even if they've long since moved on to better parts of the Web, are probably happy to hear the news. After all, the AOL hordes, by many accounts, ushered in the decline of Usenet, including the arrival of the spam that would eventually overwhelm the neighborhood.
It's unclear why AOL is pulling the plug on Usenet, but frankly, the neighborhood just isn't that desirable to companies that want to seem wholesome and family-friendly. And the Web certainly has become a freshly scrubbed place. Google turns on its adult-content and profanity filters by default, parental control software keeps kids in strictly zoned parks and cul-de-sacs, and many newsgroup posters now inhabit the suburbs of Yahoo Groups and Google Groups. The latter, in fact, is comprised largely of the resurrected ashes of DejaNews, and Google wasn't even there for many of the milestones in its 20-year Usenet timeline. Frankly, it now seems astonishing that Tim Berners-Lee could have so casually explained his World Wide Web project in Usenet with no idea how the massive expansion project would change his sweet little town.
So, what's become of the neighborhood? Ask around among folks who once used it, and they'll say, essentially, it's become a good place to get a virus. The only people I know who regularly use newsgroups describe them as their top-secret source for file-sharing (especially, but keep it on the down-low, software). They don't tell me they're there for the hard-core porn, but hey, when you're playing that far into the bad neighborhoods, you probably want to keep your secrets. It's all trench coats and dark dealings down there, and even the tough talkers on IRC probably don't head over to the really bad parts.
So, is that the end of the story on Usenet? Can the neighborhood be saved? If so, can it ever become the safe forum it used to be, without intrusion from the ignorant hordes? Maybe, and maybe AOL's departure for more gentrified regions is a good thing. Maybe, if the population gets small enough, the spammers will lose interest and they'll recede, too. If the shadow Internet becomes a ghost town, maybe its original inhabitants can sneak back in and resume their conversations.
Yes, Molly Wood is my real name. Got any other questions?
|
|
Special sponsor stores |
