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I wrote about the erasure of Internet culture for The Baffler.

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404 Page Not Found | Kate Wagner

The first time I can remember logging on to the net was around 1998, when I was five years old. My father was with me; I remember him working his magic, getting the modem to hum its infamous atonal tune.

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Anonymous

Well, that was depressing.

Anonymous

Good article. HTML is in a lucky position in that it's relatively simple and has evolved through an open standards process, so modern browsers can render a Geocities-era site with fair fidelity. Flash, being tied to a single proprietary implementation (which, to put it kindly, was never very good) is similar to a past-generation game console. Preservation efforts will require "emulation" of the platform (i.e. an implementation of Flash which can be carried forward with reasonable effort) in addition to preservation of the content. ISTR there are some ongoing efforts on both fronts.