Ask HN: How would you fix the web? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: How would you fix the web?

10 pointskristopolous8 comments

Presume the internet (by that I mean mostly the web) as it exists isn't what we hoped for and you are put on some committee of magicians. You are tasked with waving a wand over the internet and miraculously bending things to your will through sheer magic.

What would you keep?

What would you throw away?

What would you bring back?

What would you like to see more of?

What were you hoping the internet would solve but hasn't?

What real world things has the internet replaced that you would like to have back?

What real world things would you like to see cyber-ized?

Are you generally optimistic or pessimistic about the future of the internet?

(Disclosure: I just think this is an interesting topic. There is no business, product, or ulterior motive behind these questions)

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Keep: the web 1.0 that still exists out there (dreamwidth, neocities, Ao3, archive.org, etc.)

Throw away: I'd break up FAANG/Microsoft/etc.

Bring back: looser "content restrictions" a la the wild west web that it used to be. If there's something truly heinous posted that's not controversial art or a nipple, let the feds follow up. The internet was never made for kiddos and we have to stop gelding it.

See more of: [gestures at the above] fixing the above would go a long way to naturally bringing back the flora and fauna of the digital world that I was fond of. Won't replace everything, but it'd be something. The only things I'd want deliberately digitized is archive.org continuing to fill its library. Knowledge, freedom, creativity - these are all things I used to associate with the web and I still fight to keep doing.

Good questions. I will offer my grumpy old opinion as I often do. Some may not like these answers.

What would you keep?

TCP/IP, OSPF, maybe improve BGP security. Those things mostly kinda work OK.

What would you throw away?

This is tricky because if I get rid of all the machine learning dopamine manipulation systems, that will just create a void and new companies will fill that void. I don't have a good answer. FAANG has me at check-mate.

What would you bring back? and What would you like to see more of?

Bits of web 1.0. This is predicated on the previous question and dilemma but all things remaining the same, I would bring back the popularity of self hosted forums and chat servers. Not super useful if people keep using the machine learning dopamine manipulation platforms.

What real world things has the internet replaced that you would like to have back?

More variety of products at local stores. Local stores feel the pressure of Amazon so they have a less diverse selection of products.

What real world things would you like to see cyber-ized?

Nothing more. There are already too many silly IoT's and too much intrusion into peoples lives. People are already physically unwell and the internet is making people psychologically unwell too. Augmented Reality is very likely to cause traffic accidents and drama IRL.

Are you generally optimistic or pessimistic about the future of the internet?

I am optipessimistic. There is always tomorrow but some new scammy fad-like shiny object will find its way into peoples lives. I claim the NFT rights to my reply. /s

That is probably a negative sounding answer but that is the best I can do.

> What would you keep?

Personal blogs, knowledge bases in the broadest sense (wikipedia, arxiv, maybe Stackoverfow, that kind of thing), forums, e-commerce.

> What would you throw away?

The whole notion of "content" and "content creation", platforms (big or small), any form of media, the whole notion of "web applications", freaking cookie banners… and probably advertisement, too.

> What would you bring back?

The smaller scale and the DIY aspects.

> What would you like to see more of?

Self-expression without monetisation.

> What were you hoping the internet would solve but hasn't?

I didn't have any particular hope for the internet or the web. It was obvious from the very start that it would become shit.

> What real world things has the internet replaced that you would like to have back?

Actually _meaningful_ social relations with fewer _real_ people. The internet/web didn't replace or kill it but it made virtual alternatives too cheap and easy.

> What real world things would you like to see cyber-ized?

I can't think of any.

IPv6 everywhere.

Multiple overlapping DNS systems in use. The protocol supports this. I see now reason why we couldn't have it as thing.

I’d remove the “need” to bring your own everything when building websites/webapps by dramatically expanding the standard library available to web developers.

Sites/app sizes would largely return to being measured in kilobytes thanks to a wide array of standard widgets that look decent out of the box (e.g. something like Bootstrap’s default style) and are built to be easily customized. This would be furthered by a built in React analogue that can be opted into on a per-element basis which enables engine level optimizations that third party libraries couldn’t dream of.

This de-emphasis on third party dependencies would also help return web authorship to the realm of mere mortals, with no tools beyond a text editor being required to built a performant, aesthetically attractive site/app that meets modern expectations.

Get rid of email!!!

To a much lesser degree, get rid of browsers.

Replace Window based graphical computing with something more natural and intuitive since modern hardware can handle a lot more than 30 years ago.

Decentralized micro-services where any random person can foot the bill (or directly provide) for services where trust and performance is directly tied with profit and are measured near-realtime. Think how cloud providers and vps providers work except the market is akin to how AD networks sell placement/engagement.

Reduce or remove most site registrations. Just let me set a freaking account name and take my money and participation!

What I would throw away: Requiring passwords for so many things, especially when almost all sites let you log right in from links sent via email.

Ultimately I don't think there's any value in having a mandatory password on, say, HN or Twitter unless you're a celebrity who needs to maintain an image. In fact there may be negative value as so many folks still reuse passwords across multiple sites.

The web is all about large companies making large profits now. Break those up via legislation. Open source all their tech for the good of mankind.

this allows little guys to run whatever business they want from the hardware up.

This is mostly an economy of scale problem

Oh and get rid of the idea that big governments need backdoors and to break encryption etc to do their job.

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