Fifteen years ago I was already predicting "the end", or to put it in elitist terms, the massification of the internet. The Boidem's first (and only) contest invited readers to submit examples of how the early promise of the internet was becoming little more than yet another aspect of the dominant culture. Though I acknowledged that I was definitely in favor of the internet becoming "a tool of the masses", when I learned that McDonald's restaurants were offering the ability to surf the web I also expressed more than just a bit of trepidation:

I think that the most distressing aspect of this is the connotations that arise from mixing fast food with fast info. Fast food is neither tasty nor nourishing. We turn to it because we don't have time for the real thing. Is that also what happens with fast information?