Back when I started the Internet was a pretty new thing. I'm not going to imply I'm any sort of pioneer or anything, but I've been around for a little while and I've seen some things.

In the early days there was a wealth of innovation, fueled by new technology, interesting people, and venture capital. We had all sorts of people coming up with beautiful and terrible ideas. The good ones got popular, the terrible ones found the door, just how capitalism is supposed to work. There were hiccups along the way, y2k was one, the dotbomb was another. We recovered. Why? How?

We were having fun building something amazing and groundbreaking. We had ideals, the Internet was here to stay and it was meant to bring the entire world together. Good and bad. We were advocates for network neutrality and free speech. The carriers were huge monopolies and we were startups, we were literally the little guys fighting on the front lines against Corporate monopolies. We had visions of bringing together every person on the planet online so they could access any information they wanted at any time, and so they could participate and share what information they had. It was a truly beautiful thing, and I'm proud to be part of that.

Over time there grew giants. Yahoo was the forefront, they made an entire directory of the Internet! Microsoft emerged online from being just a software company. Then came the mother of all innovativeness, Google. Don't be evil. They were the rockstar of the Internet community. Everybody wanted to work there and be part of it.

Facebook was kind of a joke, Twitter was just fucking weird, whatever... normies liked their virtual farms and now people could share pictures of their kids growing up with distant relatives. We brought streaming music to the masses, and then video, and food deliveries, and ride shares, and all of this wonderful stuff. We turned your fucking phone into a portable laptop for fucks sake!

So what happened? Where did it go wrong? Well, consolidation happened.

Google would buy a company here and there, Microsoft and Yahoo would counter. Facebook saw Social Media for what it was and made the unit of measurement called "the Instagram". Consolidation continued and companies were measured by whatever these ever-growing companies would pay in "Instagrams". The most critical acquisition made during those times is when Google bought DoubleClick. This forever cemented them as the money making behemoth they are today. This cornered a huge portion of online advertising here. Facebook made themselves a walled garden so they did pretty well. Netflix, Apple, Amazon all found their corners of the Internet and killed off or bought any competition.

Then they continued to consolidate. At this point the startup community is pretty much dead. That also means that innovation has also come to a virtual (virtual LOL) halt. We're not making new things anymore. Innovation used to come from hungry young entrepreneurs, now it comes from lab rats at these FAANG companies. What's their motivation? Nothing really. They aren't fighting for their lives. They're sitting in a box and get paid whether they make something or not.

What's happened over the past few years is NOT inconsequential. There's been very little innovation. The Internet platform that was meant to bring the world together has divided it. This wonderful platform is being used as a tool to silence any dissent. That's not what it was meant for. That's not what is was meant to be. That's not responsible use of power. This is exactly the opposite of what our vision was. Vulture Capitalism has come to the tech industry, and it's being run by the very same people that hated Wall Street in the very recent past. They didn't win Occupy Wall St, they made their own street and joined them.

Well there's good news out there. We will rise from this. The tech industry had very good times, and those good times made weak men. Weak in virtue, they've lost their morals. They are now the largest companies in the world. What they've done to a large part of the community, that's us, is to create hard times.

You need to understand what these behemoths just did to themselves. They've created a market. There's now room for innovation again. There's a base out there without service, there's a hole that needs to be filled, there's a need that is just begging to be met.

"Necessity is the mother of invention"

Hold the line, my fellow Americans. While it seems like things aren't going well I can assure you that this too shall pass. We will rise from the ashes free from our virtual chains. This site is a testament, and the mods should be applauded for leading the way.

Donate where you can to new innovation, participate if you can. If you don't have the money or skills, be supportive. It's going to be a bumpy ride but when it's over we will emerge victorious.

HOLD THE LINE!!!