A Fire Upon The Deep is a really fascinating sci-fi novel to read because it posits a far, FAR future where space travel has transcended the limits of the speed of light (mostly [it's complicated]) but 90s Usenet newsgroups still exist
I mean, maybe they would come back at some point in a galaxy-spanning civilization, who knows!
It's just really funny to see, it's the 90s equivalent of cassette futurism
I guess Dan Simmons' Hyperion had some similar elements but he was mostly interested in "The Net" as such and less about specific applications of said Net, so it felt more relatable, he was just talking about the entire galaxy having wi-fi
This book isn't even ABOUT the newsgroups, they're just a ubiquitous part of the world in a way that I'm sure made a ton of sense in the early 90s
Genuinely would love to get my hands on the contents of that CD
Internet Archive me beloved
Not only that but I found a site which acts as a full online mirror of the hypertext-annotated version of A Fire Upon the Deep found on that CD
To further cement the vibes of this book, you should know the author wrote his notes in emacs
@BestGirlGrace is emacs the one we like or the one we don't?
@coriander we're vim people, emacs is the bad one
@coriander (setting aside the kayfabe, emacs is fine, it's just a different-shaped tool, but we gotta act like we're sworn rivals)
@BestGirlGrace I couldn't remember if it was a joke rivalry or if one was racist
@coriander @BestGirlGrace emacs is racist but it’s as of like a week ago
