Re: mailing list vs "the futur"
On Wed, 29 Aug 2018 10:29:25 -0500
John Hasler <jhasler@newsguy.com> wrote:
> Michael Stone wrote:
> > FWIW, I think SMTP (and IMAP) is on its way out as well. I expect
> > that in 20 years HTTP will still be going strong [...]
>
> tomás writes:
> > Rather some Google/Amazon/Facebook/Microsoft backed abominable
> > mutation of that. One that (in subtle ways) gives a competitive
> > advantage to centralized services.
>
> I think that SMTP will still be going strong but "consumers" will all
> use Webmail and all but the largest organizations will either use
> Webmail as well or contract for email service. You'll be free to run
> your own server (but not from home: ISPs will block it) but no one
> will talk to you.
>
> I don't think it's a conspiracy. I think most people *like*
> centralization.
But the very purpose of the Internet is to be decentralised: to avoid a
single, or even a few, points of failure. Massive proprietary email
providers are just such points of failure.
I'm sure it would take nothing short of a geological cataclysm to bring
down all Microsoft's servers, but were it to happen, half the businesses
on the planet will lose their email (and indeed all their documents
and their office applications). We've already seen a number of lesser
failures that shouldn't have been possible, entire airlines and banks
shut down for a day or two because their systems were centralised and
fragile.
--
Joe
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