There are possible alternative futures for technology beyond the web. We've charted a particular course throughout history to get here but there are other fruitful avenues to explore that are still open to technical pioneers like many people here on HN. Brett Victor gives a great talk with a similar premise[0].
The Web started life as a means of publicly sharing documents and has turned into a network of walled gardens. Rather than trying to fix the web itself, I think the solution is to try to recreate something true to the original spirit where users are publishers and where openness is the default.
What I'm working on specifically is best described as another take on Mozilla's Open Web App project[1] where applications are actually distributed to users for them to run themselves. The difference is that by adding visual programming into the mix, programs are realistically user editable and software freedoms start to take on a real significance to a whole new audience of empowered end-users. If you're interested in finding out more, I'm planning on publishing a blog post outlining the details in a couple of weeks time - watch this space.
The Web started life as a means of publicly sharing documents and has turned into a network of walled gardens. Rather than trying to fix the web itself, I think the solution is to try to recreate something true to the original spirit where users are publishers and where openness is the default.
What I'm working on specifically is best described as another take on Mozilla's Open Web App project[1] where applications are actually distributed to users for them to run themselves. The difference is that by adding visual programming into the mix, programs are realistically user editable and software freedoms start to take on a real significance to a whole new audience of empowered end-users. If you're interested in finding out more, I'm planning on publishing a blog post outlining the details in a couple of weeks time - watch this space.
[0] - https://vimeo.com/71278954
[1] - https://blog.mozilla.org/blog/2010/10/19/prototype-of-an-ope...