I did just that, years ago. I took a bet on the open internet.
I don't have to convince big tech to treat me right, there's already a whole big open internet where I can go and what I can connect to. Existing techniques from the 90's and before still work. Websites still work. Websites without third party code do work. Analytics from Google? Thumbs from Facebook? One can remove that with ease. Just to name a few.
So I ended up not with the most innovative approach (no blockchain, no NFT, no AI), but with a solid piece of software to build your own website with. One can connect to other independent websites via RSS. One can download it for selfhosting, one can take a subscription. You can design the thing yourself without knowing anything about design, all built-in functionality. Use it for business with a webshop, as a personal blog or photobook, or as an organization with an online info library and custom forms to connect stakeholders, etc. Oh, and visitor statistics without cookies and tracking.
Websites don't necessarily have to stay websites, they can evolve into personal online multi-tools that work nicely together with the rest of the open web.
My main concern - broadly speaking - is knowing that the future content of every website I deliver might end up 'raped' by some AI company and 'abused' as part of their product. But still, it doesn't stop me from betting on the open internet, because AI products don't exclude me and my customers from publishing our content on the internet.
I followed the link and gotta say, love the approach you took.
About AI, totally. I guess my hope is big publishers waking up and realizing they are too being ripped off by big SV tech that's just blatantly ignoring copyright.
If you happen to start a free website at Hey Homepage, know that the 'Quick Design' module (that I'm pretty proud of) might not work over there (yet). I'm working on it.
I don't have to convince big tech to treat me right, there's already a whole big open internet where I can go and what I can connect to. Existing techniques from the 90's and before still work. Websites still work. Websites without third party code do work. Analytics from Google? Thumbs from Facebook? One can remove that with ease. Just to name a few.
So I ended up not with the most innovative approach (no blockchain, no NFT, no AI), but with a solid piece of software to build your own website with. One can connect to other independent websites via RSS. One can download it for selfhosting, one can take a subscription. You can design the thing yourself without knowing anything about design, all built-in functionality. Use it for business with a webshop, as a personal blog or photobook, or as an organization with an online info library and custom forms to connect stakeholders, etc. Oh, and visitor statistics without cookies and tracking.
Websites don't necessarily have to stay websites, they can evolve into personal online multi-tools that work nicely together with the rest of the open web.
My main concern - broadly speaking - is knowing that the future content of every website I deliver might end up 'raped' by some AI company and 'abused' as part of their product. But still, it doesn't stop me from betting on the open internet, because AI products don't exclude me and my customers from publishing our content on the internet.