When the Internet first came of order, we had static webpages. The idea that anyone can post anything on the Internet was great!

The next big step was the development and proliferation of server-side scripting languages. This helped bring a level of automation and interactivity to the web. From these server-side languages, we see the advent of huge communities.

Of course, the next big step was the poliferation of a free, scaleable database system (mySQL). This helped organized data on these large sites ...

There was a small push a few years ago to start making the Internet more wireless friendly ... but I think the next big step will be the widespread adoption of standards that help share data. The development of open protocols and standards (like RSS 2.0 and XML-RPC [or XML over HTTP]) will help people develop sites that build upon other sites and are easily convertable between sites.

For example, the development of Atom, which is the idea of an open standard for storing data from journals, will allow people to switch between journaling services with ease and helps developers develop third-party applications to use this data (like a desktop application to access your journal).

Contrast this to a 2000-esque system where every site stores its data in its own proprietary format (or doesn't make it available). It makes the end-user's experience miserable, as they must remember all the sites they're registered to ... and what's worse, these sites don't share data between each other! Tabulas and Tokki are like this right now; they aren't linked up in any way!

Now, imagine a world where your Tabulas and Tokki interoperate with ease. And imagine a world where I have told people HOW to access data on these sites; then people can build their own third-party applications to access and output this data.

In essence, Tabulas and Tokki will only serve as massive data storage centers ... you will have the power to output the data as you wish, anywhere on the web.

So how does a site succeed in this upcoming era? If you can switch between LJ, Tabulas, Typepad, etc. with ease ... how do you choose?

Economics states that with no barriers, people will go the lowest cost. My first thought was that this would create a "price war" and would "cut" at the profits of all these wonderful sites. But not necessarily so. People don't like to switch URLs, and there is a certain brand loyalty.

So how do you succeed? You make sure you've been around for a while and that you remain loyal to YOUR customers. Of course, another huge thing will be the ability to "plug and play" sites into each other.

This is why I have both Tokki and Tabulas working together ... a huge undeveloped area is the media storage online. Imagine a day when you can store your favorite pictures on Tokki, but use a third-party application to "sync" your computer with your Tokki gallery; it would be an easy back-up solution!

I can't wait until I see more standards. Once we start taking advantage of all these standards ... we'll really see the true power of the web. The organization of all the data ... so lovely.

Our children are gonna have it good.

When the Internet first came of order, we had static webpages. The idea that anyone can post anything on the Internet was great!

The next big step was the development and proliferation of server-side scripting languages. This helped bring a level of automation and interactivity to the web. From these server-side languages, we see the advent of huge communities.

Of course, the next big step was the poliferation of a free, scaleable database system (mySQL). This helped organized data on these large sites ...

There was a small push a few years ago to start making the Internet more wireless friendly ... but I think the next big step will be the widespread adoption of standards that help share data. The development of open protocols and standards (like RSS 2.0 and XML-RPC [or XML over HTTP]) will help people develop sites that build upon other sites and are easily convertable between sites.

For example, the development of Atom, which is the idea of an open standard for storing data from journals, will allow people to switch between journaling services with ease and helps developers develop third-party applications to use this data (like a desktop application to access your journal).

Contrast this to a 2000-esque system where every site stores its data in its own proprietary format (or doesn't make it available). It makes the end-user's experience miserable, as they must remember all the sites they're registered to ... and what's worse, these sites don't share data between each other! Tabulas and Tokki are like this right now; they aren't linked up in any way!

Now, imagine a world where your Tabulas and Tokki interoperate with ease. And imagine a world where I have told people HOW to access data on these sites; then people can build their own third-party applications to access and output this data.

In essence, Tabulas and Tokki will only serve as massive data storage centers ... you will have the power to output the data as you wish, anywhere on the web.

So how does a site succeed in this upcoming era? If you can switch between LJ, Tabulas, Typepad, etc. with ease ... how do you choose?

Economics states that with no barriers, people will go the lowest cost. My first thought was that this would create a "price war" and would "cut" at the profits of all these wonderful sites. But not necessarily so. People don't like to switch URLs, and there is a certain brand loyalty.

So how do you succeed? You make sure you've been around for a while and that you remain loyal to YOUR customers. Of course, another huge thing will be the ability to "plug and play" sites into each other.

This is why I have both Tokki and Tabulas working together ... a huge undeveloped area is the media storage online. Imagine a day when you can store your favorite pictures on Tokki, but use a third-party application to "sync" your computer with your Tokki gallery; it would be an easy back-up solution!

I can't wait until I see more standards. Once we start taking advantage of all these standards ... we'll really see the true power of the web. The organization of all the data ... so lovely.

Our children are gonna have it good.