"But, "the Internet" is done already. It had a great historic arc, but it maxed out on its own excesses and unconfronted issues, much like the Space Age and atomic power did. Anybody who still thinks "net neutrality" is the be-all and end-all of the modern tech biz can go somewhere where they still enjoy net neutrality -- the flatness, the small pieces loosely joined, the permissionless innovation, etc.

Go to Iceland, maybe. Sure: go start a no-permission Internet website in Iceland. Birgitta Jonsdottir will be nice to you, you might even get fan mail from Wikileaks. Otherwise, it's quite like building your own crystal-set ham radio. Nobody will stop you, because it just doesn't matter."

That hits hard, and deep, but I expect it's true. If we think of the Internet as a geographical space, the age of exploration and setting up your own environment is over; the age of vast companies owning both your attention and content has begun, and I don't know if it will ever end.

But the analogy doesn't hold too well. There were hard limits on the space to explore and live. The only limit on the Internet is the global attention span. People who want wilderness can find it. It just isn't a hell of a lot of fun being paid no attention whatsoever. But it does mean there are opportunities for refragmentation.