[B1FF_PSUVM]

> I guess we can't have nice things on the Internet anymore

Not since it left the larval stage and became "pay for play", no.

Oh, well, those taxpayer-funded years were nice for those of us who were around.

[bcrosby95]

I think I remember wondering, after the dotcom bust, if the whole web thing would actually take off.

The reasoning I vaguely remember reading was that the internet required government subsidy to exist - at first directly, then in the form of universities, and the bust was a sign that it couldn't exist without one.

I don't remember how prevalent the view was at the time though. Obviously it turned out to be wrong.