A word about last Saturday's piece on lobbies: we mentioned the Rand's elegant late 20s design. Here's the staircase, spilling into the lobby:

And here's a look down - apologies for the blurry quality.

Now go here and take a look at the Chicago Motor Club. It's the Rand's brother.

The architects? In both cases, Holobird & Root. (Or Roche, if you wish.) It was almost demolished, but now it's a hotel.

SOCIAL The brutal truth about Peach: "Peach is the Ello of 2016, in that it's clean interface and flash-in-the-pan thrill make it novel, but no one expects it to succeed in a space dominated by so many established players." Do you want to go there?

Yes, that'll happen. If you do not know what that refers to, do not Google. You've made it this long without knowing. You really don't want to know.

I have Peach, just to make sure my name's not swiped. Can't see any reason to use it, but that's what 98% of everyone said about Twitter. We'll see.

INTERNET HISTORY It's ancient history, too. 2006 AD. A writer recalls the glory days of Habbo, which she describes as something at the intersection of Second Life and Club Penguin. It still exists, as does Club Penguin - where kids are still arguing about whether the iceberg can be tipped. (IT CAN'T.) The Habbo piece is a sweet little elegy to a bygone time, both in the author's life and internet culture.

Related: the odd history of BowieNet, the artist's own ISP, and some surviving examples of its "virtual" spaces. Those were all the rage for a while; we were convinced we would all spend our time in these illusionary worlds, socializing and spending money. It didn't happen, because they were ugly and slow. When kids wanted to experience VR they were content to hang around in places like Habbo or Club Penguin - better graphics, but not 3D. They'll be ready to shed reality for Oculus Rift; those who grew up with lousy late 90s VR have forgotten about it, and they have jobs and lives, I still think it will change entertainment, but that depends on the storytellers, and how long you can play without throwing up.