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I just can't see us use returning to protocol over platform either happening or being a good thing. Protocol was phased out specifically because of 3 things:

by 0dayz 4y ago

I just can't see us use returning to protocol over platform either happening or being a good thing. Protocol was phased out specifically because of 3 things: * propertiary protocol started to emerge * standard was not keeping up with the latest tech * making things interconnect was either asking for bloatware or painstakingly writing your own which just made maintenance harder

mindslight 4y ago
You make it sound like some deliberate technical/societal decision. Rather, platforms gained popularity because most investment dollars want to create media companies powered by software rather than plain software companies, most people operate at the level of typing things into the box near the top of their screen and then clicking around on what comes up, and people's inability to think abstractly about how incentives are created by a system's design. Network effects do the rest, and create strong lock in so even people who know better or who have gotten burnt are still stuck in the orbit of popular centralized services. Will the current events be enough activation energy to oust microblogging from its proprietary hell hole? It's hard to tell, but it's one of the best opportunities we've gotten.
- distcs 4y ago
  But why does that stop technical folks from creating protocol-based software and services? That is how the Internet was in the 90s, right? It was no mainstream and nobody cared much. The tech folks created their protocols, server tools, client tools and created their own networks with their own subcultures. IRC, newsgroups, Gopher, BBS all came out of that. Why should that stop now just because internet is now accessible to the whole world? Tech folks can be tech folks and they can still fool around and create these small networks with subcultures. Gemini is a recent development but such things are fewer today than in the 90s. Wonder why!
  - mindslight 4y ago
    If you're able to resist the siren song of the greater web and other pop culture distractions a few keystrokes away (eg HN), and are willing to gain popularity at the same rate things grew in the 90's, and have a stark divide between your few friends doing the same thing and the sheer majority who aren't, sure that could work. But for most people, the overwhelming social environment and its network effects is just too strong of a pull.

by 0dayz 4y ago

mindslight 4y ago

You make it sound like some deliberate technical/societal decision. Rather, platforms gained popularity because most investment dollars want to create media companies powered by software rather than plain software companies, most people operate at the level of typing things into the box near the top of their screen and then clicking around on what comes up, and people's inability to think abstractly about how incentives are created by a system's design. Network effects do the rest, and create strong lock in so even people who know better or who have gotten burnt are still stuck in the orbit of popular centralized services. Will the current events be enough activation energy to oust microblogging from its proprietary hell hole? It's hard to tell, but it's one of the best opportunities we've gotten.

distcs 4y ago
But why does that stop technical folks from creating protocol-based software and services? That is how the Internet was in the 90s, right? It was no mainstream and nobody cared much. The tech folks created their protocols, server tools, client tools and created their own networks with their own subcultures. IRC, newsgroups, Gopher, BBS all came out of that. Why should that stop now just because internet is now accessible to the whole world? Tech folks can be tech folks and they can still fool around and create these small networks with subcultures. Gemini is a recent development but such things are fewer today than in the 90s. Wonder why!
- mindslight 4y ago
  If you're able to resist the siren song of the greater web and other pop culture distractions a few keystrokes away (eg HN), and are willing to gain popularity at the same rate things grew in the 90's, and have a stark divide between your few friends doing the same thing and the sheer majority who aren't, sure that could work. But for most people, the overwhelming social environment and its network effects is just too strong of a pull.