> The inherent tension between the speed and efficiency of closed platforms and the decentralized power of open standards based platforms seems insurmountable.

> The inherent tension between the speed and efficiency of closed platforms and the decentralized power of open standards based platforms seems insurmountable. Isn't this where open source platforms like Linux come in? Linux has been fighting for desktop adoption for decades, but the surrounding projects (Cairo, Pango, etc) that support that effort have evolved a tremendously powerful platform. An open source project could easily build and popularize an alternative to HTML and the like. The problem I see is the entrenched HTML output (both static and from dynamic generation) of billions of websites. The longer HTML is entrenched, the bigger the leverage it has. And that entrenchment isn't wholly without merit either. Resolution and viewport independent UIs, especially over such a broad range, are incredibly difficult. That said, I fully expect things like onmouseover scripts to disappear as we try to learn new UI ideas for multitouch devices.