> Why does any one thing have to be a "standard"? That's part of the problem.

Economies of scale and network effects.

Nothing has to be the standard. But if 80% of people are familiar with X, choosing Y incurs friction.

What has to be "standard"? The application itself or its UX? I'm pretty sure it's the latter, so all it takes is a familiar UI and low-friction approach. You don't have to be a world famous brand for people to be able to use it.

Exactly. We only need a "standard" because everyone builds walled gardens and easy content distribution to multiple platforms is intentionally difficult. Right now you have to watch a "YouTube" video, instead of just a video on YouTube.

Standards != centralization. Standards apply more to protocols, and centralization applies more to ownership of data.

For instance, there is an enormous benefit to the entire world from using a standard IP/TCP stack. Yet, we don't seem to suffer from a centralized authority making controversial or conflict-of-interest decisions regarding that stack.

So what I was suggesting is that document-editing abide by some global protocol/standard, which would include storage, versioning, and permissions. As far as the choice of user-facing interfaces and implementations of logic around those standards, there need not be just one, or even a few. Everyone can bring something cool to the table and anyone can use whichever flavor they wish.

To avoid Google Drive/Docs/etc you don't have to boil the ocean. Buy a Synology DiskStation and just use the included software

It's a solution that works for anyone with basic IT skills. Offer your extended family access, and use the provided software to control permissions etc

Also, non-powerusers will gravitate towards the simplest solution to their problem, and that will also tend to be the one that the highest number of people understand how to use.

Exactly, if we replace one standard for another what problem are we solving if the main goal was to reduce centralization.

In the pandemic my elementary aged kids become Google Docs experts. Network effects are real.

If nobody uses something, what difference does it make?

Everyone uses it or nobody uses it aren’t the only two options.