The State of Web Development
Interesting video interview of Robert Cailliau, the co-developer of the World Wide Web, on the usability of today’s devices & web applications (click on the link above if the embed doesn’t work):
He has some pretty strong views with regards to the usability of the iPhone and the state of web standards today. He argues in no uncertain terms that browsers absolutely have to follow web standards and has no business interpreting code their own way.
On the other hand, Joe Hewitt, who has been deeply involved in web development for the past decade (he worked at Netscape, AOL, Firefox, and now Facebook), argues here that web standards are evolving too slowly for any real innovation. The W3C is moving too slowly to ratify standards, therefore proprietary plug-ins and technologies have stepped in to fill the gap.
He states that proprietary tech is blowing the web away and contends that this is the reason why native mobile apps (and conversely, app stores) are doing so well nowadays.
I guess it is no surprise that the people who innovate are at odds with people who are calling for conformity, so both sides of the argument have equally valid and important points. Both sides have different roles to play in web development.
Update: Google responds to Joe Hewitt.