Facebook already existed when this was written. HN was just around the corner and fits a lot better, imo. I figured "you and I" referred to developers and entrepeneurs, not the general public.
Facebook didn't launch 'til February 2004. Initially it was only available at US Ivy League colleges and, then, in 2005 at some international universities, but it was not "unavoidable" in 2004.
Perhaps I spoke too broadly, but I signed up (according to my Facebook account) September 6, 2004 and only did so after being nagged by friends and acquaintances. So, for me when I look back, it felt unavoidable.
Note: I went to a university in the US but not an Ivy
But how many of us thought it would become proliferous as a global community? At the time it was locked down to each college (you had to have an @college.edu address to even register), and it wasn't until 2005 or 06 until high school kids got access, and then their parents, and Facebook tore down the dividers of their walled gardens.
Then again maybe he was just a big fan of his MySpace page at the time.
In mid-2006 I was hearing about facebook, and it was being described as: "kinda like myspace, but for college kids - something universities can buy into and keep the creepers[1] out".
[1] Creepers being defined as people who just trolled social networks looking for friends/sex/whatever, that was new and terrifying to a lot of people then.
When he said "whoever creates AOL for real people [...] is going to be really, really rich" I'm pretty sure he was talking about something closer to Facebook.
