This is a free companion to this week's podcast on The Matrix.

One of the central conceits of The Matrix is that the titular VR network-cum-mind prison was modeled after the peak of human civilization, which the computers determined was a green-tinted 1999.

The idea was laughable at the time. Looking back, the machines were obviously right.

In '99, the internet was new, exciting, and uncomplicated. Back then, you "went on the internet" for a brief time and usually with a clear agenda—check email, bid on eBay, play a game. And then you went on with your life, which did not involve the internet at all.