The goal of this website is to provide a home page for me on the internet.
Keeping it simple accomplishes functional and stylistic goals:
- Easy to maintain
- Easy to navigate
- Fast to load
- Close to the fundamentals
- Hearkens back to a simpler online experience
At this moment in time, I am of the belief that the internet as we experience it—as humans—has gotten worse.
Perhaps this is just a case of rosy retrospection...
During my earlier years surfing the web, it was less information-dense and harder to navigate. However, much less vied
for the user's attention. It took more searching, but the information I found was generally of higher quality.
True experts and niche forums held treasure troves of specific and particular information.
People shared their passions, expertise, and learnings.
A few years later, I feel like I experienced the golden age of the internet.
A multitude of intersections seemed to occur:
- Computers were cheaper
- People had become more computer literate
- It was easier to make a website
- It was easier to contribute on a website/forum/blog
- The internet was more searchable
- People were more online
What hadn't occurred yet was also very important:
- Much less on the internet had been commoditized
- Creating a website was still challenging
- Creating content was still challenging
- The internet still had a distinct culture
I recognize my argument could be construed as, “more exclusive == better.” That is not my belief.
I believe more diversity and access create better things. So here's my distinction: as the cost to do something approaches zero,
people will tend to do that thing less considerately. So as the internet has become
easier to use, it has been increasingly filled with more. Whether you deem the more
as good or bad, borrowing from a signals approach, if you're looking for something specific, that more
can be viewed as noise.
With more people trying to profit, and technology's ability to hold our attention—doling out dopamine hits like sesame seeds to a hungry mouse—
it seems to be harder than ever to find the signal in the noise.
Maybe you share this sentiment, maybe you don't. Feel free to reach out to discuss it.