Going back to the BBS thing, in days long past I taught myself how to use WWIV, a popular BBS platform. Nowadays, I make web apps for a living. But I took a long time to learn that skill and in the years between I rarely thought about BBSes.

I didn't see the relationship for a long time. It just seemed like "the web" became some sprawling corporatized nightmare, all sales pitches and glossy design.