[guest post] Nostalgic Tech
This is a guest post by Steven Tanzi :) in turn, I will soon write a guest post on his site as well!
Originally Written: 6/22/25
Growing up in the early 2000's
I was born in the late 90s, so most of my childhood was spent in the early 2000s. I remember when I got my first computer (desktop tower) that was mine, and how it didn't have internet because it didn't have a wifi card and we didn't want to run ethernet to where it was (I actually spoke about my original computer here). I remember the tail end of dial up. I remember Windows XP (which I half joke I'm going to force my kids one day to use to learn about computers). I wanted to take this time to talk about some of my earliest memories around computers and technology.
Early PC Games
Some of my earliest memories being around a computer were at my grandfathers house. When we'd go to visit, he'd have a desktop computer and a whole host of PC games on CDs that we could play. I remember absolutely loving Putt Putt Saves the Zoo (Which, by the way, had an absolutely bangin sound track), finding Gregory and the Hot Air Balloon a bit confusing (Wrote about it a bit here actually), and being absolutely enamored with Dogz. It was always a real treat getting to go over and play any of those games honestly.
Other than at my grandfathers house, I also have very fond memories playing Club Penguin (which apparently you can play the legacy version online? I had thought the servers were completely shut down...), and Runescape (also available online apparently). God so much Runescape. I used to basically empty my inventory except for I want to say 60 gold or whatever the currency was... You could then take a boat to an island with bananas that I believe was 30 gold each way. I'd load up my inventory full of bananas, bring them to Grand Exchange where they were worth a decent amount, and repeat the process. Good times.
Technology
Outside of video games, I was always really interested in tech in general - I always wanted to setup new TVs, or the new VCRs with RCA connectors, or whatever it may be. Growing up from the Playstation 1 to the Playstation 3, I got to see video games really develop and grow like no tomorrow, not just on the computer. I got to see us go from flip phones to smartphones, desktops to laptops, and honestly laptops to smartphones too (which I still can't wrap my head around the folks that only have a smartphone and no computers). Websites like YouTube grow into what they are today, the surge of Facebook, Instagram, Vine, YikYak, Snapchat, algorithmic timelines, all of it! But... are we moving in the right direction? Is all of this... good for us?
Nostalgia vs Rose Tinted Glasses
It's not something I've really thought about until the last couple of years to be honest. It's not something I even noticed about myself until that recently - sure I pulled out my phone a handful of times, but I wasn't addicted. It's not like I had an impulse for it. But.. I did.
My disatisfaction with how technology was progressing really begun with algorithmic timelines. "Back in my day" everything was sorted chronologically by default. If you're not sure what the difference is, with an algorithmic timeline, a computer algorithm determines what to show you. This is the default page on YouTube now, and it's how TikTok and Facebook tend to operate by default. A chronological timeline, shows you content based on chronological order it was posted, typically from people you follow. I've always been much more of a fan of chronological timelines as I can make sure I see posts from the people I want to see posts from, rather than an algorithm deciding whose posts it thinks I should see. But... most people don't really seem to care. Most people want the internet to just feed them whatever. They don't want to have to search for or curate what they want to see online.
YouTuber Technology Connections talks a bit about how he's noticed this trend too, in his video "Algorithms are breaking how we think". An article I reference often on my own site, "Where have all the websites gone? by From Jason, talks about how curation is needed online, and how there are still cool websites out there, if you really search for it. An article in Noema mag titled "We Need to Rewild the Internet" talks about how, if my memory serves, we need to diversify the internet again, rather than be sort of stuck in the walled gardens of a few big tech companies. A video by the educational YouTube channel Kurzgesagt, titled "The internet is worse than ever - Now what?", talks about how maybe going back to how the internet used to be would probably be better for humans mental health - smaller, tighter knit communities.
On smartphones in particular, YouTuber Eddy Burback made a video called "I hate my phone so I got rid of it" in which he talks about how he noticed how much he was on his phone, and hated it, so wanted to try a change. So, he got rid of his phone for a month to try and see how his life improved or what changes he noticed (unsurprisingly, mostly positive). I spoke on my own website recently in a post called "On Smartphones" in which I talk about how annoyed I've been recently about my smartphone usage, and an event recently that really got me frustrated with it.
I look at all of these sources I've mentioned, and more, and I agree with them. The internet now seems bad. It seems like a better idea to go back to how things used to be - everyone should have their own websites, with RSS feeds so that I can follow them, and not have to use a specific social media site. But, honestly, who is going to put in that much effort? So many friends I have don't even want to use Social Media anymore, much less learn the coding (or markdown) necessary to have their own website. And to me that's a shame because there are people I'd like to be able to stay passively in touch with, that just sort of... doesn't happen anymore.
I also think when I'm thinking about all this stuff, am I just an old man yelling at change, at how much better it used to be in "the good ol' days"? I'm almost 30 so you know, basically a foot in the grave at this point. I don't think I'm wrong with this - at least in the people I know in my life, and from talking with my younger brothers, it seems like the general trend is away from Social Media, or at least an awareness that it has negative impacts to ones mental health. That said, TikTok is still incredibly popular, so maybe it's just the circles I hang in.
Cohost
Those who follow me on my site know that I talk about Cohost pretty often. It's now shut down, however it was trying to bring back the old internet. The site had no numbers. You can reblog things, like them, whatever but those numbers weren't visual, meaning there was no way to tell which accounts were "popular" or not. The only way to find content was either following people directly and seeing what they reposted, or by using the tagging system. It even had RSS feeds enabled for peoples pages!
This was... weird for people though. Having a site where you had to actively curate what you were finding was different than what people were used to (at least, with how the internet works now). There'd be posts on Cohost (like this one) which would tell people how to use the site, because yeah, it was just different than what people were used to. Some people would join the site, see no main "feed", and just sort of bounce. So those posts were to help acclimate people to the site.
Cohost eventually shut down. They could not find a financial model that would let them keep the site going. They spoke a few times about how from the data they've seen, no social media site is profitable - they all do other things which let them stay afloat. Cohost did not want to go down the route of selling ads or user data though, and so ultimately had to close up shop.
Side note, this is sort of another reason I think more people should have their own websites - hosting costs money, and so I don't think it's likely a "good" social media site is going to popup without big financial hurdles, or without having to sell user data. I mean, let's face it, I don't think most people would pay for social media. But if you're not paying for a service, you are the good that is being sold. Ava actually wrote a piece recently called "the definition of insanity" in which she spoke about how it seems like "new" social media sites keep just trying the same thing over and over, without realizing what they're enabling or adding to their sites is exactly what make the other ones a place people don't want to be.
Wrap Up
So... should we go back to the old ways, or is it just the nostalgia talking? I'm not 100% sure to be honest. I feel like there was something the old internet was onto - before Discord was being used as a wiki or forum, where there were websites for everything, and you had technology like RSS that was an open standard for people to connect with each other. I know for me at least, I've been making changes to distance myself from how the new internet works - getting off Facebook, getting a flip phone to use when I'm spending quality time with friends or my fiance so that there's no chance of distractions. Making my own website (which, if you've ever wanted to make your own site, now is a great time as there's been a sort of resurgence since Cohost shut down). And, I think, it's something others should give a shot too - get a cheap flip phone, get off the social media sites that make you feel bad, and maybe try setting up an RSS feed reader.
About the Author
Hello and thank you for reading this far! As you can tell from this post, I tend to write about tech, life, and sort of anything else that comes to mind. You can find me on my website, Tanzi-Media.