individualism in the dead-internet age: an anti-big tech asset flip shovelware r̶a̶n̶t̶ manifesto

Do you remember the good old days when the internet had just begun—dialing up your connection to the charming zzzzz-screee-brrr of your modem, and then updating your MySpace page? The early internet was an open space for fellow nerds and cheerful, curious, creative minds. Someone had made a program you could use to put together your very own zine. There used to be such a thing as the Electric Love Potato, which lived on your computer desktop and gave you recipes. Even Microsoft offered “silly software.”

Today, software is in the hands of big corporations—completely locked down and impossible to modify. We, the users, have become the fodder for a vast machine. Can it still be stopped? This interactive essay on techno-capitalism is a beginning. Follow the coins and discover hyperlinks, gems from the internet archive, and texts that make you ponder. A tirade in the form of a “walking simulator.”