Since I already confessed to having been around for a long time (not for a few years though), I might as well comment on how I see Babble changed.
We used to have long discussions about basic-principle ideas (one of the things that attracted me to Babble in the first place) and we had the patience to discuss them fully.
Most of the threads today seem to be primarily about current events and concerns. There also seems to have been more fun and humour back then but I may be wrong about that -- I have not read all the current threads to form an opinion.
Maybe some of us were a lot younger back then?
I wonder what happened to my old Babble-friends whom I don't see any more: WingNut, Sisyphus, Apementus, Markbo, Dr.Conway, Meades, Lance, Clersal, Earthmother, Clockwork, Slick Willy, Grasshopper, SherpaFish, etc., etc.
I would be curious about thoughts of old-timers about how they think Babble changed since the early days.