One of My Favorite Subjects...

... which would be the inanity of Facebook.  Here's John Dvorak on the subject:

People are always baffled by the fact that I don't use Facebook. I don't care much about Facebook any more than I cared about MySpace and LiveJournal before it. In almost every way, these subsystems are too retro for my taste.

Let me explain. 

The world began with online services like the Source and Compuserve. They then evolved into a myriad of BBS systems and then AOL was created. AOL became the kingpin and along came the Internet. The Internet had the versatility that no other system had—you could do whatever you wanted with it. You could start a website about your cat. You could do a storefront. You could do anything that came into your head. 

[...]

Which begs the question as to why anyone would use Facebook when it is essentially AOL done right? The fastest growing group on Facebook are people in their 70's. Oldsters are flocking to Facebook the way they once did with AOL. Facebook is a simple system for the masses that do not really care about technology and do not want to learn anything new except something easy like Facebook.

Whenever someone tells me to check out something on Facebook, I recall the heyday of AOL with its keywords. "Go to the Internet at www.blah.com or AOL keyword: blah." This was a common comment on the nightly news or in magazines. The AOL keyword is replaced by the Facebook page name.

There is no reason for anyone with any chops online to be remotely involved with Facebook, except to peruse it for lost relatives. So, next time you log on, remember it's really AOL with a different layout.

Welcome to the past. 

Heh.  I've been sayin' as much in these pages for quite a while but not linking Facebook with AOL, which is how I began my on-line life.  But I grew up and abandoned AOL quite a few years ago in favor of a more pure internet experience.  There's another reason to eschew Facebook as well, and I'll quote Groucho:  "I wouldn't join any club that would have me as a member."  Or sumthin' like that.  All you 70-something wanna-bees might disagree and that's your prerogative.  Now go buy a goat and a couple o' cows, OK?  And watch out for Guido.