Peter Gaston (@stopsatgreen)
- danger: the web gets marginalized
- threats to the prosperity of the web:
- commoditisation (work gets automated)
- apps (better ux, more focus)
- app-only strategy (e.g. Apple, Snapchat)
- iOS + android have ways to open apps instead of web links
- advertising/tracking (has chilling effects on users)
- monetisation (adblockers caused revenue drop of 22bn $ in 2014)
- few centralized websites instead of diverse website landscape
- platforms (< 2002: portals; < 2013: search engines; >= 2013: platforms)
- the next billion (4bn people online 2018)
- mobile by default
- surfing is expensive (https://whatdoesmysitecost.com, e.g. 1GB prepaid data ~ 15% avg month income in Myanmar)
- Facebook is the internet: Instant articles (on Facebook) provide 10× the performance of shared stories
- messaging platforms
- platforms host content on their own (because of performance)
- bots provide dynamic services
- headless (e.g. wearables)
- voice / no UI (e.g. Amazon Echo, Google Home)
- it's not all bad
- web-first promises fast growth (see slack etc.)
- with electron, web technologies can be used on desktop
- progressive web apps are best practices for matching expectations users have
- physical web => beacon sending url, physical notifications
- web bluetooth => web app pairs with bluetooth devices
- nfc api
- geolocation api
- payments api