The elegance of gopher [10 Feb 2019]
The Oxford dictionary defines elegance in the following manner:
elegance
noun
[mass noun]
1. The quality of being graceful and stylish in appearance or
manner.
'a slender woman with grace and elegance'
2. The quality of being pleasingly ingenious and simple; neatness.
'the simplicity and elegance of the solution'
While it could be subjectively argued that the gopher protocol
fits the first definition, I believe that the second definition
defines the essence of gopher.
If the purpose of the internet is to share and distribute
information via networked computers, I maintain that gopher
serves this purpose in a simple, neat, and even "pleasingly
ingenious" manner, while the modern HTTP browsing experience does
not.
It is a simple matter to compare both methods side by side. Just
visit any current "news" or information site while using Firefox,
Chrome, Safari, or Edge, and watch what happens. Even with
ad-blockers and anti-tracking plugins enabled, one is still inundated
with pop-ups, videos playing, and all kinds of crap that you never
requested searing your eyeballs.
Next, visit an elegant gopher site that serves "news" pages, such as
fritterware.org [1], and notice the difference. The directory loads
quickly, neatly and simply. You do not have to install any plugins
in order to shut down the scripts that are trying to come between you
and the content that you are seeking.
The sheer speed with which the content loads brings a smile to the
face and a twinkle to the eye of anyone who has spent time perusing
modern HTTP sites.
The modern internet has become a place where delivering information
has become secondary, and capturing people's attention and tracking
them, by turning them into "consumers" has become primary.
Web content producers are now being actively encouraged to to create
emotion driven, "click-bait" headlines and stories, in order to appeal
to the visitor's primal mind.
Contrast that approach with what finds on gopher. Pure, elegant
information, delivered in, dare I say, a graceful and stylish
manner.
The modern internet has become a place where brain cells go to die.
Embrace gopher, and embrace the future.
[1]
gopher://fritterware.org
