Chris TrottierNov 9, 2022

The biggest mistake web devs ever made was focusing on corporate-owned APIs instead of on new and innovative open protocols.

I don't care how all-encompassing Big Social becomes -- or whether Google or Apple can keep their market valuations ongoing.

Those "critical" APIs can be yoinked at any moment.

However, SMTP and HTTP have now been used for decades. So why not build on the next generation of open protocols?

Show threadChris TrottierNov 9, 2022

Also, when Twitter yoinked API access from 3rd party developers, that convinced VCs that continuing a bait-and-switch with APIs was lucrative.

That they could fund the next potential monopoly.

The result was competing walled gardens -- and that has hindered the Internet's development, perhaps set it back for decades.

Show threadChris Trottier

People often forget that a core selling point of Web 2.0 was interoperability.

Yay! You could embed! You could build plug-ins and themes!

But so much of it was a mirage because too much of Web 2.0 was built off corporate-owned APIs instead of open protocols.

Nov 9, 2022 at 9:29pmWeb
Show threadChris TrottierNov 9, 2022
As long as I'm talking about the value of open protocols, I might as well give a shout-out to @[email protected] -- who co-authored #ActivityPub and is working on #Spritely.
Show threadVivaldiNov 9, 2022
@atomicpoet @cwebber @spritelyinst are here too
Show threadChris TrottierNov 9, 2022
@vivaldibrowser @[email protected] @[email protected] Can you tell me more?
Show threadVivaldiNov 9, 2022
@atomicpoet @cwebber I am not sure if you are asking us but we were just pointing out that @spritelyinst are here too since you didn't @ them. We presumed you forgot.
Show threadChris TrottierNov 9, 2022
@vivaldibrowser @[email protected] @[email protected] Ah, got it! Thanks for that.
Show threadBen RamseyNov 9, 2022
@atomicpoet There was a brief moment where it felt like that would turn over and we’d start building interoperable protocols, but then investors saw $$$ and ruined it.
Show threadChris TrottierNov 9, 2022
@ramsey Yep! Investors didn't want interoperability. They wanted monopolies.
Show threadHishamNov 9, 2022
@atomicpoet oh boy, I do remember the promise of "website mashups" and I didn't believe it for a second...
Show threadChris TrottierNov 9, 2022
@hisham_hm Thank you for remembering what I'm talking about!
Show threadphzleNov 9, 2022
@atomicpoet this is really visible in how the material infrastructure of the internet has developed since the end of the dot-com bust. Web2.0 is really just a tool for geopolitics but the decentralized Web3 and WebBlue projects have experienced painfully slow starts.
Show threadJonathan E. Magen 🇮🇱🇺🇦☮️Nov 10, 2022
@atomicpoet I hardcore remember that much of this was tied to XML specs as well for grandiose visions of "web graffiti" and "content mashups". Instead we got walled gardens.