I remember writing web pages using invisible tables and other HTML hacks. I also remember later using CSS hacks and different properties for each major browser... Sometimes you would use underscores in the CSS property name so that it would be ignored by some browsers and not others. You had to test almost every styling change you made with at least 3 different browsers. The standard wasn't being followed strictly by IE which was dominant at the time.

Reading this article reminds me of how many opportunities there were to build useful tools and quickly gain traction and grow a community. Nowadays everything including people's attention has been monopolized and growing a community is not feasible for everyone. This rubs salt into the wound that it's also much harder to create viable, differentiated products due to high competition.