Yeah, I’m that old.
Back when opening google.com wasn’t just something you did, it was a ritual. You’d see a quirky drawing celebrating Alan Turing or some surrealist poet who died 200 years ago, and think, “Cool, I guess I’ll learn something today before diving into a black hole of tech news and Jira tickets.”
But now? Try asking a Gen-Z dev what today’s Doodle is and you’ll get a blank stare, assuming they’re not too deep in TikTok, Discord, or whatever post-platform dystopia they live in. They don’t use Google. Or Facebook. Or even care that once, logging into Gmail felt like stepping into the internet itself.
Me? I still use Google. I like search engines that don’t try to be my therapist or my best friend. I like having a browser that doesn’t ask if I “want to vibe with this product”. Call me a digital fossil (but at least I know what a Doodle was).
And Facebook? Sure, it’s mostly political rants and boomer memes now, but it keeps me connected with old friends and familiy. Unlike every new app in 2025 claiming to be “AI-native” while serving the same dopamine loops with a ChatGPT wrapper.
I don’t know what’s next, but it’s probably AI based. It’s always AI now. AI search, AI assistants, AI friends, AI enemies, AI startup founders. Maybe one day, an AI will draw Doodles again… only this time, they’ll be optimized for engagement and sponsored by an LLM.
I miss the time when the web had soul. When it surprised you. When it doodled instead of just calculating your attention span.
- https://www.nyan.cat
- https://archive.org
- https://theuselessweb.com
- https://homestarrunner.com
Maybe I’ll start my own Doodle. Call it HiTechist Dystopia Drops — one weird artifact of tech history a day, no algorithm needed.
