By Casey Muller
I don't get nostalgic about much, but thinking about the BBS era
will
get me every time. www.etext.org
has its roots in the same movement,
so I gleefully spent some time poking around. The site is more of
a
meta-site, archiving many e-zines, political writings, and other works
of online literature from all eras of the internet's history. It's
a
snapshot that reminds me that nothing published on the internet is
ever guaranteed to go away.
The site is completely non-commercial, a welcome relief that again
is
a throwback to the social roots of the material. These days there
is a
lot of content that is closely tied to commercial entities, banner
ads
prevail, and amateur works are usually only presented in the context
of hoping to make money eventually. www.etext.org
presents text from
when people had just realized that gopher and the web allowed them
to
get whatever message they wanted out to a vast number of people at
no
cost. Additionally, close-knit communities formed that all shared
their writings or beliefs, causing this effect to snowball.
The site is designed with a simplicity that is appropriate to it's
content. Easy to read text, black and white, and a simple navigational
structure.
I shouldn't imply that the site is only amateurs. The e-zines contain
writing from professionals at the time, and some who have since gone
pro. It is very enjoyable to simply browse the site, reading whatever
articles have interesting titles, and agreeing or disagreeing with
each fringe culture. The site is an excellent resource, giving without
taking, and I really enjoyed spending some time on it. After all,
it's
always fun to remember your early teens.