![]() At this age, I could already tell that our hobbies had reached a point of divergence Chris was far more into sports and frequently teased me for trying and failing to partake in any athletic feat, game, or conversation surrounding the culture of sports itself. While my family was still stuck in the days of single-line dial-up, he’d been fortunate enough to have his own internet connection directly to his room - a practical nirvana for adolescent boys looking to get in all sorts of trouble during sleepovers.ĭuring these pubescent all-nighters, our main web-surfing interest was illegally downloading music at the über-slow, hours-per-song trickle that internet access circa 2000 afforded. One of my earliest memories as an active music consumer (that is, when not terrifiedly hugging the side of the highway on my bicycle to hit up Tower Records for whatever my 13-year-old self could afford) was giddily downloading songs in my friend Chris’ room in seventh grade. For all the institutions, fanbases, and cash-hungry industries that Napster tore apart, it’s easy to forget that the file-sharing service - the preliminary beta service that first launched 6/1/99, 20 years ago tomorrow - brought people together more often than not.
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