Does anyone else remember "Comcast Searchlight"? It was a slightly interactive cable channel, with a small selection of advertisers that Comcast had somehow duped into paying money to be on "Searchlight". That's what the Internet would look like.

The Internet wasn't a net gain - we lost Usenet, that was a shame, but Tragedy of the Commons rolls on. Prodigy, CompuServe and Delphi might still be around, making a small amount of money for whatever Immoral MegaCorp owns them.