> > The web: couldn't you just transfer a file to an open port and use a rendering tool to view it?
> Did anyone actually ever say this? The web was clearly a technological advancement that most tech people realized out of the gate.
I don't get why we're even talking about it. The original example is nonsense. The web literally does what that example says - pushes byte streams to computers that use a rendering tool to view them.
Arguably, what made the web popular wasn't HTTP per se. The two core ingredients were, in my opinion, DNS infrastructure and that "rendering tool", AKA. web browser. Together, they made it easy to publish files and let random people access them. Arguably, the third leg would be the <A> tag in early HTML, which kept everything glued together while it expanded exponentially.
> The web: couldn't you just transfer a file to an open port and use a rendering tool to view it?
Did anyone actually ever say this? The web was clearly a technological advancement that most tech people realized out of the gate.
> Wikis: couldn't you just update a web page?
It was pretty obviously apparent with wikis that letting anyone update the page, from the browser, was a cool technological achievement. I was well into my tech career at this point and don't remember anyone reacting to wikis this way.
> youtube: couldn't you just upload a video and use tags for search?
I mean, these are getting ridiculous. When YouTube came out video sharing was a major PITA, a pain that hit most technical people, too.
I just don't buy GP's premise because all of the examples seem like something only "Tech Support Guy" from those old SNL skits would say.