[jacquesm]

> That argument doesn't work because that was already possible with TCP

TCP: low level network protocol, HTTP: high level network protocol, HTML: high level layout description (ok, maybe not that high ;) ).

> and it doesn't explain the rise of "apps".

Actually, you can explain apps (and silos) as a way to undo all that open goodness and to bring control back to the large companies that are (rightly) frightened out of their wits by what an open internet and a peer-to-peer world actually means.

Now if we could get providers to play ball and to allow servers to co-exist with residential services on ports 80 and 25 (somebody think of the spam...) and hand out symmetric bandwidth by default we might be able to undo some of the damage.