The early internet (1980s-2000s) was built on top of a series of open protocols like HTTP (websites) and SMTP (email). It was largely decentralised:users could trust that these protocols wouldn’t change and could build sites and services on top of them with no intermediation by a third party. However,building required technical skills,and it was hard to attract an audience. Web1.0 was niche.
The internet as we know it today is Web2.0 (2000s-2020s). Centralised companies like Facebook and Google solved these problems by allowing non-technical users to create pages,share photos and text,search,message friends and colleagues,share files and more. They wrapped the Web1.0 protocols in delightful user interfaces,trading off decentralisation and ownership for utility and distribution.
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Riding the waves of mobile adoption and cloud delivery,these companies drove an astonishing take up of internet services and trillions of dollars of value creation. Billions of people across the globe got access to incredible technology,usually ‘for free’.
However,we’ve seen recently that Web2.0 is not all sunshine and roses,particularly for innovators and creators. The vast majority of communication and commerce now takes place on closed platforms like Facebook,Google and Amazon. Huge value has accrued to a small few tech giants who,by extracting and selling their users’ data,have become misaligned with their customer bases.
These companies have become famous for changing the rules for their users,sometimes censoring them,and not allowing other companies to build on their infrastructure or access their data. Ask any YouTuber or Instagrammer how easy it is to port their audience off-platform. Or talk toEpic Games about what it’s like relying on Apple’s App Store. The risks of being beholden to,or trying to build and innovate on top of someone else’s platform are clear.