@strypey I'd say that the web was decentralized until the web 2.0 period which began around 2004 (also the beginning of Ubuntu). After then it became increasinged centralized, with The Cloud and virtualization enabling an effective return to mainframe computing.

In the time 1994-2004 people used different email servers. There were personal websites and blogs typically hosted by the many small ISPs which started up. Although Microsoft and companies like Compuserve tried to apply the mainframe model in the mid 1990s they failed because the technology and infrastructure wasn't capable enough and they also over-curated their content making it bland compared to what existed on the "open web".