This could be the golden age of the internet. Why not?

The predominant narrative these days is that generative AI is going to be bad for the internet. Whether you call it Dead Internet Theory or The Slopocalypse, the idea is the same: A tidal wave of low-quality AI-generated slop will flood the internet, turning it into a lifeless shell of it’s former self.1 Maybe they’re right. I’ve certainly seen bad slop content on social media. But I’ve also seen stuff like this: I think there’s a decent chance that we’re about to enter the golden age of the internet, and posts like the above help explain why. A renaissance of little apps The internet is more than just content… it’s software. It’s email clients, Pomodoro timers, drawing tools, and games. Historically, all of this software was painstakingly built by hand, which limited what we could build and publish. But the barrier just got lower. All kinds of interesting people can build things now that couldn’t before. Artists, school teachers, sports enthusiasts, farmers, 11-year olds, scientists,…