Through the looking glass: Are you reading this post right now? Yes? Are you sure? Because according to signs that have been popping up all over Seattle, Washington, the internet ends today. I know I just posted this article on the internet, so maybe they mean it ends at midnight?
It’s a bit hard to imagine what the world would be like without the internet, especially for those young enough (not me) to have zero knowledge of what it used to be like in the late 1980s and early 90s. There are fully grown adults right now who only know what an encyclopedia is because they read about it on the internet or they think you meant to say “Wikipedia.” Even those who remember back in the day could hardly manage to get by without some sort of connection to the World Wide Web.
Seatle is home to more than 45,000 Amazon employees whose jobs exist solely because of the internet. So it might have come as a surprise to some of them when signs around Seattle began displaying the message, “12022021 INTERNET ENDS.” Hmmm, 12/02/2021?
Damnit man! I was just gettin’ the hang of it Bwaaaha ha ha Asta Lavista baebi
— Paddyizhere (@Paddyizhere) December 1, 2021
CNET’s Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, who lives in the Seattle area, first noticed the ominous prediction on the sign for a sushi restaurant. Its placard had previously read “Now closed Mondays.” She snapped a picture of the letterboard, thinking it was funny and unique, only to find people had seen the message all over Seattle.
Several replies to Cooper’s tweet showed the same warning on various street signs and business placards throughout the city. A particularly interesting one appears on the N 80th Avenue overpass sign. That one was made to look like an official WDOT marker—professionally printed on metal and bolted to post the same manner as the other signs.
INBOX: “I found that the end of the internet is either:
1) On the N 80th Ave overpass, or
2) Set to happen on December 2, 2021.
Either way, big news.” pic.twitter.com/PKXlNam0Cl
— Chase Burns (@chaseburnsy) July 28, 2021
It’s reminiscent of the Mayan Calendar scare of 2012. As you may recall, the world was supposed to end on December 21, 2012 (12212012). What is the fascination with number sequences featuring zeros, ones, and twos? The world may never know, although this particular mystery was solved as of Thursday at 2 pm PST.
Cooper noted in her original article that one of her colleagues found a web page called “12022021endoftheinternet.” It appears to mock the original end of the internet webpage.
The end of the internet is either.. 1)Somewhere in Seattle Washington or 2)Happens on December 2nd 2021 👀 pic.twitter.com/u0Zcj8Kvbv
— alice valkyrie (@alicevalkyrie3) November 29, 2021
There was a timer counting down to 2 pm December 2. Well, 2 pm has come and gone, and presumable at the appointed time, the owner of the site posted a video plugging an “anti-cyberpunk novel” called “Murderf**ckers at the End of the Internet.” Of course, the cryptic signs were placed by the author Dae D Shields or his confederates as viral marketing for the book.
So no need to worry. Your doomscrolling will not be interrupted any time soon. That is unless you want to read a sci-fi book about a future Seattle that actually sounds rather interesting.
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