Ever since Facebook pivoted to “the metaverse” last October, including renaming itself Meta, I’ve been pondering the technological framing of this move. When he announced the change, Mark Zuckerberg pitched the metaverse as “the successor to the mobile internet.” In other words this new platform (which hasn’t yet been built) will be a mix of virtual and augmented reality, but it will more resemble the relatively closed mobile internet ecosystem rather than the open web. Or at least that’s how I understood Zuckerberg’s remarks.
Meta claims that interoperability will be a key part of the metaverse, meaning users will be able to easily move from one metaverse platform to another with the same set of technologies (virtual reality headsets, augmented reality standards, and the like). Interoperability is built into the World Wide Web, because it is built on open standards. However, as I explained in a column in December, the mobile internet has traditionally been plagued by poor interoperability. I note some examples below.
So, the theme of this edition of Cybercultural is the state of the mobile internet — and how it may apply to Facebook/Meta moving forward.
Notes from the Present 📱
Why Apple’s iOS Browser Engine Monopoly Matters
Dan Shappir, a longtime JavaScript developer, lays it out:
He goes on to say that Apple “is leveraging its complete browser monopoly on iOS by preventing the adoption of new Web features,” causing web developers to “refrain from using such features in their websites / web-apps because there’s little point in implementing something that won’t work on iPhones.”
The new web features he references include “progressive web apps” (PWAs) — which are enhanced websites that have native app-like functionality. Unfortunately, you often can’t run PWAs on iOS, because Apple’s browser engine doesn’t allow some of the key functionality. So the comparison to Microsoft IE in the early 2000s is apt.
An Example of iOS Stagnation
One example: Apple has only just enabled 3D web development in iOS.
WebGL 2.0 achieves support from all major web browsers!
https://t.co/HHzBHtZ78B
A Trendy Mobile App That Still Isn’t On Android
Superhuman is a $30-per-month email app that has gotten a lot of buzz in Silicon Valley and has raised over $100m in VC money. It never formally launched, but those in the know have been using the iOS app since about 2019. The company has been promising an Android and Outlook version for a while now, and it still hasn’t arrived. Using iOS to provide a “velvet rope” around a new startup is a common tactic in Silicon Valley (it worked for Instagram, less so for Clubhouse), but waiting 3+ years for an Android version is pushing it.
Why an Open Platform Matters
This quote from Tim Berners-Lee, the web’s inventor, sums it up beautifully:
“If we can make something decentralized, out of control, and of great simplicity, we must be prepared to be astonished at whatever might grow out of that new medium.”
The mobile internet is controlled by Apple and Google today, which has hampered innovation. So we want the future metaverse to be “out of control” of Meta. Whatever the metaverse version of Superhuman will be, it’d be preferable if it worked for everyone.
Hat-tip Gordon Brander, who tweeted the above quote (from a December 1997 talk by Berners-Lee). p.s. I also tweeted how that TBL quote relates to Web3/crypto, specifically calling out its lack of simplicity:
“If we can make something decentralized, out of control, and of great simplicity, we must be prepared to be astonished at whatever might grow out of that new medium.” (Tim Berners-Lee)
https://t.co/dn2o8C3JNB
Gartner Verifies the Metaverse
Again, this technology has not yet been built…
Clouds? Where We’re Going, We Don’t Need Clouds
Speaking of new platforms that may or may not be viable, in my column this week I profiled a new ‘post-cloud’ blockchain from Dfinity called the Internet Computer. It’s being pitched as “build almost anything, dApps without cloud.” I spoke with Dfinity’s Lomesh Dutta to get my head around it. I got the headline btw from this famous Back to the Future clip:
Notes from the Past ☎️
10 July 2008: Apple’s App Store Launches
From the ReadWriteWeb coverage:
“As the hype around the iPhone 3G launch tomorrow is kicking into high gear, Apple has released a new version of iTunes, which includes the long-awaited App Store. According to Pinch Media, there are currently 552 applications available in the store. More than 25% of the apps are available for free. Applications from the App Store will run on both the iPhone and iPhone touch after users upgrade to the latest firmware, which will also be released today.”
Obviously 552 apps available on day one is a pittance compared to today — there are roughly 2.22 million available apps for iOS now, according to Statistica. I recall that on the App Store launch day in 2008, many (most?) people were more excited about the launch of the iPhone 3G — the second generation iPhone. I wrote up a post about it, including an unnecessary gloat about getting my iPhone 3G before many Americans 🙄
7 May 2010: RWW Mobile Summit
We held our second “unconference,” the ReadWriteWeb Mobile Summit, in May 2010. It was held at the beautiful Computer History Museum in Mountain View, Silicon Valley. I did a search today and found this TechCrunch video from the event. As Chris Saad noted in the video, a big theme at that time was mobile web vs mobile apps. Of course, apps won out in the end — but in 2010 it was still a debate.
Web 2.0 = Like Apple?
Something I hadn’t heard before about Web 2.0:
Joseph, who is a VC at Founder Collective, further explained:
“…I don’t know if it was widespread, but I was working with a lot of big pharma companies and drug/grocery chains at the time. They had no idea what what web 2.0 was, “read/write,” etc. but they always gestured at what Apple was doing.”
Yahoo! Developer Platform from 2000s
The 2000s was a golden era for using the web as a platform — especially before the mobile internet came along in 2008. Chris Messina tweeted out an old Yahoo! pamphlet from the mid-2000s. Yahoo never was able to get its developer platform off the ground, but at least it was trying to build this on the web platform rather than make it proprietary.
One More Thing 📞
If you’re going to run a proprietary platform, Apple is (apparently) a good role model (via @Andr3jH).
See you next week! Do reach out by email (just hit reply) or on Twitter (@ricmac) if you have any content suggestions, or just want to touch base.