Rumors of the Web's Demise are Greatly Exaggerated
The NYT OpEd "The Death of the Open Web" by Virginia Heffernan is making the rounds.
I just wish that in order to get published in the NYT, you actually had to have some insight into the subject you're talking about. I bring this up because all that's in evidence in Heffernan's piece is an assumption for some reason that the current state of affairs where companies like Apple serve as gatekeepers through their AppStores and subscription firewalls -- that this state of affairs not only will endure but will become the rule for online communication.
Of course, in order to make this assumption, you need to completely ignore what's been going on for 30 years or more. You also need to ignore what motivates people and instead assume that an environment where they're treated essentially as classic "consumers" is likely to be more successful than one where they can pretty much do whatever they want.
Of course, you can also look out the window in December and assume it'll snow all year, but doesn't entitle you to write articles on meteorology for the New York Times -- at least I thought.
Is a 'closed web' likely to become the way of the future? About as likely as companies like CompuServe and AOL making a come-back.
