Gathering with like-minded individuals is the double-edged sword to the web. The ill-effect of this is that extremist groups can easily congregate and share ideologies, limitlessly. The beneficial aspect of this is that those who are for a good cause can do the exact same. I feel that the benefits of this outweigh the ill-effects.
Universality and isolation along with open standards and closed worlds are similar concepts that go hand-in-hand with one another. In the context of the article, universality is when the internet is accessible from any device no matter where or what platform it is based on, and permission to access should not and should never be a requirement. In a similar way, open standards guarantee a certain transparency to the way entities operate on the web. For example, HTTP(S) is an open standard protocol used in the web today, however, as the article presented, Apple has their own standard for iTunes links, iTunes, which only works for iTunes and iTunes only. This protocol is not an open standard because it is not documented and not everyone can use it. This is an example of isolation and closed worlds. Apple is one of the greatest examples of this type of closed ecosystem, where all of the inner-workings to their web presence and source code is kept classified. The ironic part about this is Apple’s current effort to parade themselves as a user privacy-centric bastion amongst the lackluster security and privacy features that other companies seem to lack today. However, it does make sense that a walled garden is one of the most, if not best ways to keep maintain and develop a privacy safety since everything is walled off in the first place.
The antidote to some issues presented by the author in the article, such as snooping by agencies or interference with access to the web by companies, is that of decentralization and an openness to the idea of being open. I consider myself a computer hobbyist and like to dabble in working with flavors of Linux. The concept of Linux is quite interesting, since it is an operating system whose source code is freely and openly available to anyone to use to create anything. The idea of Linux was to create an open source operating system that anyone could use, and such a mission is quite important in the lack-luster privacy world we live in today. Linux further embodies this concept since the source code and flavors of linux that exist do not exist on a single server center’s database. Linux is not a company; it is an ideal translated into software. Linux flavors are hosted on servers all over the world and can be hosted on your own computer if you wanted to. This is a type of decentralization that Linux always finds itself in. The fact that the Linux source code is open source, and the fact that the community is full of enthusiasts and full-timers constantly checking and fixing the source code means that there is no “walled garden”. The OS does not track you. You fully own your computer.
I feel that the author’s vision for the future of the web is valid. He is most excited about the way it will further our connections with each other and in doing so deepen our knowledge of everything. I do not disagree, however I feel that this change is gonna take a little more years to come to full fruition. As more young people take positions in power, this change may become the standard in our society.