diamondage.webp
[Hide] (335.2KB, 1361x2000) >>18807
The clearnet is an abomination that never should've existed, looking previously ubiquitous systems like UUCP & FidoNet, it runs contrary to the founding ethos of the Internet.
I remember when I read picrel and its depiction of network architecture that also served as a plot device, I researched IRL cypherphunk networking projects, and immediately thought that was clearly the way pervasive computingIoT will have to be implemented if the Internet ever expanded beyond the hobbyist level. Then when the first Web³ stuff like signatures, hashes, blockchains, and torrents started getting mainstream hype I thought "It's about time!".
Sadly, social media in all its absurd bot-vulnerable glory persevered as the anchor of the clearnet. I still think it's inevitable that the clearnet must and will die, even if not in as orderly a fashion as I'd previously imagined.