WebGL is fantastic, but writing compelling software with it is significantly more difficult than just using "normal" web libraries because you have to be able t

WebGL is fantastic, but writing compelling software with it is significantly more difficult than just using "normal" web libraries because you have to be able to think in rendering terms, use linear algebra (a bit), etc. And the thing is, it turns out it is really difficult to find something to do using WebGL that isn't easier to understand in a normal 2D visualization. I think there is great stuff to be done (and is done) with WebGL, but most of it is in the background and subtle. "Walking through a data world" is just a dumb idea, for lots of reasons. But using WebGL to speed up 2D visualizations works great, as is using it to make more interesting 2D visualizations. However, that is a subtle art.