Rodent Regatta

Meanwhile, let me declare my own goals here.

First, I want to see the Web finish turning into the writing environment of first resort. Back in the mid-80s there was a book called The Mac is Not a Typewriter. I don’t remember what the point was, but I do know that I want to see the Web turn into the next typewriter: a writing and publishing system for everybody the final fulfillment of the press freedom sanctioned by the First Amendment. To me that’s what weblogs do, big time.

Second, I want to see the Web restored to its original design as a symetrical system. I’d like speeds both up and down to be equal. I’d like Port 80 to go unblocked. Cable and ADSL (which constitutes most DSL) systems are set up today with the expectation that most people would rather consume than produce. In fact they actively discourage production. Yet most of us would probably rather put our photo albums and home movies on our own home servers instead of some BigCo or ISP server, if the choice was available. Decentralized weblogs, by appealing to relatively resourceful and motivated early adopters, will do more to drive a symetrcial web than anything else on the horizon right now.

It seems to me that Userland is pushing toward both those goals with Radio, and has been for a long time. In fact, as I understand it, Radio was designed originally as a completely decentralized system. But because very few potential customers were running on their own IP addresses out of their own homes and offices, the market was too small. So they desinged it to allow upstreaming for HTTP service out of an ISP a solution that’s as decentralized as it practically can be.

Again, I don’t know enough about the others to say how decentralized they are. [Doc Searls Weblog]