◆ [Date updated: 2024/06/03(Mon) 10:19:27]
■A small interview with Shiba (founder of Ayashii World) about his
│thoughts on the Internet, circa 1998 (shortly before he quit Ayashii):
│https://web.archive.org/web/19981206130852/http://www.hotwired.co.jp/matrix/9808/textonly/question/shiba.html
│
│Google translate:
│
│Q.1 What were you doing on the Internet in 1995? Please be as specific
│as possible. If you were not using the Internet, please tell us when
│you started.
│
│In 1995, I downloaded strange underground tools and viruses. I was
│still mainly using PC communication. In 1995, people were just starting
│to leave NiftyServe, so BBSs and homepages were still interesting. I
│started using the Internet seriously in the summer of 1996. And around
│that time, I started a web page.
│
│Q2. What are you doing on the Internet now? Please be as specific as
│possible about the content of any projects you may have.
│
│I run a web page called "Strange World," which is mainly a bulletin
│board. It is underground to the general public, but not to those in the
│know, so it could be called the "gateway to the underground."
│Currently, it is mainly current events and inside jokes, but basically
│anything goes. The principle is that those who post and those who read
│are responsible for their own actions.
│
│Q3. Has your attitude towards the Internet changed between 1995 and
│now? If so, how has it changed? Or, if not, in what ways do you think
│it remains the same?
│
│I thought it would be good for the Internet to be a free and
│unrestricted space, but the reality has been different. In terms of
│legal regulations, it is difficult to know what is illegal and what is
│legal. There must be many people who are caught without even realizing
│that they are illegal. I also think that we are becoming in a horrible
│situation where even things that are not illegal are being regulated in
│the name of "self-regulation" to escape regulations by the authorities.
│On the other hand, as more people are using the Internet, the advantage
│has emerged of being able to share local information, rumors, and word-
│of-mouth information on a national level. Information is being
│distributed at a different level than the mass media, which act as if
│they are providing all information even though they can only provide
│limited information. In other words, in an information-saturated
│society, it is now possible to select and discard information without
│being manipulated by the mass media. I think the future of the Internet
│can be found there.
│
│Q4. Three years from now it will be 2001. Please predict the state of
│the Internet in 2001 as much as possible based on your own experience.
│
│It is certain that the number of ordinary people (those who are not
│particularly knowledgeable about the Internet) will increase, so there
│will be more problems like those occurring in the real world. This will
│be a new type of problem with elements unique to the Internet added to
│it. Elements unique to the Internet include partial anonymity and the
│ease and convenience of taking action. It is expected that criminals
│will become younger and younger in particular. On the other hand, as
│commercial use of the Internet advances, the Internet will likely
│become increasingly "clean" on the surface. It will likely move in the
│direction of not only eliminating illegal things, but also "foreign
│objects." Once the Internet is cleaned up and only used for commercial
│purposes and broadcasting, it will be over. It will not be interesting
│if it becomes the same as magazines and television. However, time flows
│on the Internet several dozen times faster than in the real world, so
│it is difficult to predict what will happen three years from now.
│
└■scary that this is what is happening right now (;´Д`)
│
└■No, it's exactly what happened 20 years ago.
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