Comment by Clubber

>The type of people are different.

>Back in the 90s, you needed to have a decent amount money to afford a computer.. this essentially built a wall between people that came from affluent backgrounds vs. those that did not.

I remember the sub-$1000 PC came about in the late 90s, you didn't have to be that affluent; lower-middle class was enough. I remember people in the BBS days that were barely middle class that had computers. Wealth wasn't really that much of an issue. It was more of an interest thing. Lots of people back then really didn't know how to use computers and they were pretty foreign to most people.

I remember pre-Windows 95, you had to know someone who had WinSock and install it, and you had to manually enter your IP address and gateway and all that. It wasn't an easy task. Once things like Internet in a box came out, it became easier. That's what AOL offered, easy access to the internet back when it wasn't that easy.

I think the biggest difference is how commercialized it has become and how the big companies have essentially taken it over. In all fairness, they did have a lot to offer; most websites were static documents.