Hi Joe,
It seems like it’s been such a long time since the days at Netscape, where people there would come in with a sense that everything we were doing was “changing the world”. Even now the repercussions of the efforts we took there are still echoing across the web. I recently read your posts regarding mobile application development, and I wanted to write you this open letter as a way of both encouragement and call to action.
From day one it’s been obvious that you have had a heart for web development, and for helping your fellow web developers. From things like Firebug and the iPhone web tools, you’ve shown an uncanny ability to find pinch points for web developers and writing tools to make their lives better. I believe that you are in a unique position to do this again.
Folks write applications for mobile devices for many reasons, but I think primary amongst them is the promise of seeing a return on their investment directly with the people that use their applications, via an “app store”. One of the innovations that Apple realized is this idea of developers writing applications directly for their users, and having those users directly support those developers with their dollars. I would even venture to say that many developers build applications for these platforms only because they can reach the users they want, and get paid for it.
There is no such system for pure “web developers”. Sure, you can do something like put your application up on GitHub, or write a few blog posts and hope that you might snare a few users, but mainly web apps are lost in the sea of videos, twitter messages, and the latest news. I recently read about something called “droit” ( see Aral Balkan’s article ) where it’s encouraged to:
Seek: open standards and open platforms.
Avoid: proprietary platforms and walled gardens.
But how does a web developer do that when the plants (apps) you grow (build) never see much sunlight, and nobody comes to smell the flowers or buy a few? Joe, you have a unique opportunity to once again use your influence in the web developer world to do something amazing, as you always seem to do. What I implore you to do today is think about why people plant their seeds in this “walled garden” and hope that the gardeners water the plants and not arbitrary step on them.
Imagine an “app store” for the open web. You say that sites like the App Store set precedents for future app stores that seek to copy their success and bring in the bad along with the good. Please put your time and energy where your talk is and build an “open web app store” or something like that. Help give web developers a viable alternative to the Walled Garden, somehow. If I had the answer to this, I’d say it. I know it’s not an easy thing, and probably not something you may have been originally thinking about, but I hope you read this with an open mind and raise your sights a bit higher. The creation of Firebug, the iPhone libraries, and many other things you have created have had a huge impact on the web. Here and now is your chance to do that again.
I remember during crunch times at Netscape we would look outside and joke about how much better the campus groundskeepers had it. Outside, no pressure, in the open air, able to chart their own course for the day. I find it ironic that perhaps becoming an Open Gardener may be just what the Net needs, and you could help do that.
Have an awesome day Joe, and I know that whatever you set your skills and energy to, it will prosper and grow.
