For me the old internet was an escape from real life. I hate crowds, so I preferred the internet in '94. It was fun, new and all other nerds were just like me, so I understood them (ok, most of them). Now ‘normals’ have taken over as well as companies.
Yea olde internet was for sharing useful information, learning and communicating with like minded, now internet is primarily for earning cash (companies) and having opinions sent out/manipulated. To much noice, not enough information.