Something I was thinking about today… time for me to talk about an article from 3 months ago, because hey I’m really on top of things! I debated bringing it up at all, no matter how long after the fact, because it seems like blatant trolling to me. Clearly now I’m going to take the bait though, sigh. I speak of the Wired article proclaiming “The Web is Dead” by Chris Anderson from several months ago. I should link to it, but I guess I am enough of a snob not to do so out of spite. Use Google to find it dear reader WHILE IT STILL EXISTS!
I’m not going to go in too deep but it may go without saying that I don’t agree with the premise of this article. If it doesn’t by the way: I don’t agree. It seems most of the comments are with me, not that this is the sign of a rational argument or position here on the web, sorry I mean on “the internet”. In this case though, c’mon! Some of the comments have made many of the points I would: drawing false correlations with data, ignoring evolving web tech, ignoring history of software development and history cycles, etc. Does this really matter though, is the article just trolling? While I really like a lot of Chris’ writing (especially his last book), it sure fucking feels like it. This isn’t evidence however, just a dirty feeling when I talk about it that I’ve been tricked into doing what they wanted me to do all along. “Of course its ridiculous! Now send more of those fucking page views to Wired on the dead, dead web.” Well maybe Wired doesn’t think the web is so dead just yet. Despite my dirty feelings though, if I do make the assumption that this wasn’t “look-at-me” journalism (which seems like a sadly growing amount), and that these are Chris’ thoughts in earnest, I think at the very least he is severely underestimating the next round of web tech, not that apps won’t be a part of the future, just as one might have pointed out they were always part of the past (grrrrrr).
Which brings me to my real point, as with many things on the web the new tech is here and has been here, it just hasn’t been done much. I think what this really reflects is a sad lack of initiative on the part of web devs in the mobile space especially, myself included. This did get me thinking about an ongoing presentation/application I’ve been working on that showcases the very evolving web tech that addresses things in the article. But you don’t have to wait for me to stop playing video games and get off my ass to finish this stuff, there’s a great overview at diveintohtml5
Maybe this really is a good thing, insomuch as it is a call to arms for us to rise from the grave an consume or conscript via vicious viral infection those that might stand in our path. Maybe I’m just a thoughtless zombie
