understand a lot about how their computers stored
information and launched programs, later operating systems such as
Windows 95 put more barriers in place. Although these operating
systems make computers easier to use in some ways, they prevent users
from gaining access or command over its more intricate processes. Now,
to install a new program, users must consult the 'wizard'. What better
metaphor do we need for the remystification of the computer? Computer
literacy no longer means being able to program a computer, but merely
knowing how to use software such as Microsoft Office.

Finally, the do-it-yourself ethic of the internet community was
replaced by the new value of commerce. The communications age was
rebranded as the information age, even though the internet had never
really been about downloading files or data, but about communicating
with other people. The difference was that information, or content,
unlike real human interaction, could be bought and sold. It was a
commodity. People would pay, it was thought, for horoscopes, stock
prices and magazine articles. When selling information online didn't
work, businesspeople instead turned to selling real products online.
Horoscope.com and online literary journals gave way to Pets.com and
online bookstores. The e-commerce boom was ignited. Soon the internet
became the World Wide Web. Its opaque and image-heavy interfaces made
it increasingly one-way and read-only, more conducive to commerce than
communication. The internet was reduced to a direct marketing
platform.

The burst of the bubble and the re-emergence of community

Few e-commerce companies made any money selling goods, but the idea
that they could was all that mattered. When actual e-commerce didn't
work, the internet was rebranded yet again as an investment platform.
The Web was to be the new portal through which the middle class could
invest in the stock market. And which stocks were they to invest in?
Internet stocks, of course! Like any good pyramid scheme, everyone was
in on it. Or at least they thought they were.

News stories about online communities such as The Well, or even
discussion groups for breast cancer survivors were soon overshadowed
by those about daring young entrepreneurs launching
multi-million-dollar IPOs (Initial Price Offerings of formerly private
stock on public exchanges such as the NYSE or NASDAQ.) Internet
journalism, written by option-holding employees of media
conglomer