Preparing for a HailStorm

Monday, March 19, 2001 by Dave Winer.

Prepare to think 

This morning Microsoft will make a proposal about the next generation of the Internet, what I'm calling Internet 3.0. I was briefed on their announcement on Thursday and am under non-disclosure until Microsoft makes the announcement at 10AM Pacific today.

They will surely get people thinking. That's a very good thing for people to do. What would you like the next layer to look like and what would you like it to do for you? Even more important, what would you like to do for the Internet?

Interop 

At the same time, we will formally announce Radio UserLand, imho "a turning point for the Internet." We're making progress on the process for SOAP-level interop, allowing as many developers as possible to hook up to HailStorm, Radio, and any other ideas that may or may not catch on. The goal is to give developers choices, so that they in turn can give choices to users.

Over the weekend we figured out, with the help of several Microsoft people who use Radio, how our stacks will connect. The benefits of our mutual investment in XML is paying off now. In the sub-head of our press release we say "Microsoft collaboration continues to deliver results for Web users."

No lock-in 

Like all previous layers of the Internet, there will be no lock-in in the next layer. When I ask the Internet where it wants to go today, that answer comes back loud and clear. Accept the Microsoft proposal as a starting point for a discussion. There are some good ideas there, and a lot of courage (some might say chutzpah). I find it all inspiring.

Watch and listen 

Watch as Microsoft's competitors rush to open up previously closed boxes.

Watch Jabber get inspired to build networks for XML-RPC and SOAP developers.

Listen for the answer from AOL, Sun, Oracle, IBM and the other gorillas. They will be similarly inspired, I'm sure.

Look for renewed interest in other operating systems like the Mac OS and Linux's new desktops, ones that are not so tightly bound to Microsoft's net.

And watch the legal minds churn on this and see what they spit out.

Dave Winer