And now, a brief definition of the web
This is an excellent and well-argued piece from Dieter Bohn. In it, he argues that “the web” is characterized by two things:
- URLs and
- Client agnosticism.
Reading this, I’m reminded of a lot of Jeremy’s writings about products being “on the web” rather than “of the web”. It’s an incredibly important distinction in my mind because, as Dieter so eloquently puts it
The openness of the web allowed small companies to become big ones without seeking permission from the biggest ones. Preserving the web, or more specifically the open principles behind it, means protecting one of the few paths for innovation left in the modern tech world that doesn’t have a giant company acting as a gatekeeper. And there’s reason not to trust those giant companies: there’s much less incentive to encourage openness when you have a massive empire to defend.
These are important things to consider when deciding where to invest your time and energy.