>> Yes. $$$. Nobody makes much/any money off email because it is >> so de-centralized. People who build wonderful new applications >> build them in a centralized way so that they can control them. >> And they want to control them so that they can monetize them. > > That is even true of the large email providers who are happy to > provide "free" email in return for being able leverage their > other products and/or "sell" the users and user base to > advertisers. It is very true that innovation can only be sustained with a revenue stream. But we could argue that several services have now become pretty much standardized, with very little additional innovation going on. Those services are prime candidates for an open and distributed implementation. I mean, could a WG design a service that provides a stream of personal updates and a store of pictures and is only accessible to my friends? And could providers make some business by selling personal servers, or maybe personal virtual servers? Maybe I am a dreamer, but hey, nothing ever happens if you don't dream of it! -- Christian Huitema