[malandrew]

Actually we are worse for it. No one focuses on cooperating on standards that could provide better experiences anyone. How often do you meet an engineer that has contributed to an IETF RFC or a W3C specification, and implementations of that specification.

If anything, Apple has popularized the tragedy of the commons, giving everyone a false prophet to worship: walled gardens are the way to make seemless experiences.

The only reason walled gardens provide seemless experiences is because everyone trying to make their own walled garden fragments things further.

I know of know experience more seemless than Internet Protocol. RSS and XMPP were also pretty seemless for the user.

A vision of the world where walled gardens are viewed as the only path to a seemless experience produces a vicious cycle leading to a dystopian self fulfilling prophecy.