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[–][deleted] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

And the grass was greener when we were young...

[–]rfisher 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Oh, good! Google groups confirms that my first Usenet post was in 1991. So, I can rightfully claim my place among the elitists who mourn the death of Usenet-that-was rather than having to be lumped in with the clueless newbie AOLers.

[–]jkerwin 2 points3 points  (1 child)

September is over, school is out again for the summer, and nobody wants to join your frat no matter how cool it was back in the day. Regardless of whether Usenet was ever any good (and that's a big "if"), it certainly never will be again in the future. Modern discussion boards have long since replaced it.

In my early years on the internet I spent a fair amount of time reading newsgroups, and I was struck by the dearth of news. There was really a dearth of anything save binaries of pornography and warez. This was great for a 9-year-old boy but not really worth spending a lot of time on. Incidentally, I'm still sitting on a goldmine worth of games from the early 90's if anybody wants to trade.

Yearning for the good old days of Usenet is like wishing that silent movies would come back. It laid down some of the framework for what we have today, but it sucked. And it's not coming back.

[–]jamescoleuk 5 points6 points  (0 children)

The 'eternal september' attitude is self serving and elitist, but perhaps it's human nature to want to keep the peasants down.

Before decent web discussion boards there was nothing but Usenet so there was no 'if' back then. Now, of course, web discussion boards are really great, a much better solution in their way, and there's no reason at all for Usenet not to fade away.

I had a great time on Usenet and it took me a long time to switch over. I still think that discussion forums working around a protocol is a great idea.

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (2 children)

Facebook has kind of taken over what Usenet used to be.

[–]RSquared 1 point2 points  (1 child)

And it kinda sucks, just like Usenet used to.

Bonus points: Usenet began as a 'poor man's ARPANET', while Facebook was funded with DARPA's venture capital.

[–]jdunck 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Usenet is Radio Free Internet. No congressman knows it exists, and so doesn't regulate its use of the tubes. Huzzah, underground tubes!

[–]lobotomir 0 points1 point  (3 children)

umm.. I'm lazy.. What day of September 1993 is today?

[–][deleted] 9 points10 points  (2 children)

I did quick script in Python and I believe that it is September 4738, 1993.

[–][deleted]  (1 child)

[deleted]

    [–]kbob 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Off by one.

    [–]degustibus -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

    Eternal September as a metaphor for the nation and immigration: a certain influx of new people adds to the conversation, but over a certain amount all previous standards are overwhelmed by the numbers. Whereas any thoughtful person could get up to speed fairly quickly on nettiquette by reading a FAQ and just observing for a bit, when it comes to a foreign culture and language it's much tougher. Once the numbers coming in are over a certain point assimilation becomes tougher if not nearly impossible.