I kinda wanna see an alt-history TV show where every technology gets developed but then technology stagnates around the internet era and the internet (in the current form) never gets developed.
What do you think of this type of society?
I think a sort of like text packet-radio of public chatrooms would be so cool as an alternative to the current “internet”. Like a meshtastic sort of thing, and Libraries would have info on how to build them, and some stores will sell them.
So basically like a internet-but-not-really-internet sort of “internet”, and there would be range limited, and you have the option to not pass on messages you deem hateful. And no corporation will control it, no central servers. Less trolling.
Am I making any sense?
I dabble in ham radio stuff, you can (and many people do) send data, video, etc. using ham radio equipment. It’s a bit more specialized than just sending voice or Morse code, but it’s absolutely doable.
Not amateur radio, but back in about the 80s there were even a couple countries that experimented with distributing computer programs over regular FM radio. They’d play some electronic buzzing noises that you’d record to a tape then to run it as a program. I know the BBC did it, and I believe Finland also had a radio station doing it for a bit.
In a world where the internet as we know it never came together, I could definitely imagine those sorts of technologies evolving into something that still looks a hell of a lot like the internet.