I’ve been poking around at Google’s information on “instant apps” since they announced it at Google I/O. My initial impressions mirror Peter’s.
Either they allow access to more device APIs (which could be a massive security hole) or else they’re more or less websites.
While the open web still exists, we really dropped the ball protecting and strengthening it. Fewer people’s first choice for publishing is to start a web site hosted at their own domain. Like the destruction of Pennsylvania Station, sometimes you only know in hindsight that you’ve made a mistake. We were so caught up in Twitter and Facebook that we let the open web crumble. I’m not giving up — I think we can get people excited about blogging and owning their own content again — but it would have been easier if we had realized what we lost earlier.
By publishing to my own web site first…
- I feel like I’m curating a library rather than throwing loose papers into a raging torrent.
- I have the ability to quickly move to another platform if I so wish
- I can choose how things look and feel
- I can track, or not track, any metric I’d like to
- I can publish several different types of media: photos, audio
- I can turn discussion on or off