There is a lot to be said for standards. But that has nothing to do with the focus on the web to the exclusion of all else that is possible. As someone said,

There is a lot to be said for standards. But that has nothing to do with the focus on the web to the exclusion of all else that is possible. As someone said, TCP/IP became a standard, even though there were superior alternatives. The benefits to us that you observe are in the adoption of a common standard, not in the choice of the protocol. Client-server is standard. NAT is standard. Firewalls are standard. When everyone adeheres to standards, it's a good thing. But these choices are poor and do not benefit us as much as better alternatives would.