Net nostalgia? How can something as new as the World Wide Web suddenly develop that magical quality which tugs at the heart with a reminiscent fondness for things past?

Well, first we have to define the parameters for nostalgia. What makes a subject or a pastime nostalgic?

Age? The passage of time certainly lends itself to the creation of things nostalgic.

Absence from general usage? Yes, a thing which has been out of fashion for some considerable time can resurface in a nostalgic manner. The public longing for a return to a more gentle, simple way of life is a powerful force, capable of generating wealth in abundance for the canny entrepreneur.

So, which of these parameters fit snugly around the Internet?

Not surprisingly, none. The World Wide Web has not been around for any great length of time. The Internet has not yet faded from public awareness and then enjoyed a popular revival. We have to look for another reason, or at least examine the existing reasons in more detail.

As we examine the passage of time and the trends, fads and fashions which are generated periodically, we begin to notice the labels that are inevitably attached to each period.

The forties, the fifties, the sixties, the seventies, and so on. It seems that we have pigeon holed our concept of nostalgia into ten year cycles. It seems to work, ten years is a nice round figure. Ten years absence can turn the most irritating song into a pleasant trip down memory lane.

Underneath the melodies, the new furniture and the gated housing complex’s, there are social and technological advances taking place. In music the advance of electronic instruments and better sampling techniques have changed the way we listen to music forever. New materials allow us to make furniture lighter and more durable, shaping our most basic needs into art forms. Social attitudes have changed the way we view our fellow man – and woman – for the advancement of all. (Hopefully)

Ok, so back to nostalgia.

While all that history was taking place we gladly accepted the general public attitude that ‘things take time to do properly’ or ‘you can’t change things overnight’. We like that, it’s comforting, reassuringly safe.

Well that was fine up to the eighties. That’s when things really got out of hand.

Instead of waiting ten years for a new cycle, along came Moore. Moores law says that computer power will double every eighteen months. And so far it has done just that. What does this do to our nicely rounded off ten year nostalgia era's? Well, it shrinks them right down to eighteen months in the blink of an eye!

So the third parameter for the creation of nostalgia = Rate of Change

Now that we have established that there is a case for nostalgia on the Net we can enjoy a bit of looking back with rose coloured spectacles. We might even go as far back as 1995.

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